Main Street Lights Is Friday!
The holiday season is almost underway in Newberry! Downtown’s community Christmas tree has arrived to Newberry. Bridget Carey, city tourism and events manager said this year’s tree, a Fraser Fir, stands at least 20-feet tall and weighs approximately 300+ pounds.
This year’s tree came to Newberry from Appalachian Farms of Cranberry in Western North Carolina. Each year, Austin Willingham of Willingham and Son’s in Newberry drives approximately six hours to pick up the tree and deliver it back downtown for the community to enjoy.
Fraser Fir trees are not farmed any farther South due to the climate, which is why the city purchases their tree from North Carolina.
Carey said the city was grateful each year for their partnership with Willingham’s and their willingness to deliver the tree to downtown Newberry.
The arrival of the tree marks the beginning of the holiday season with the city’s annual Main Street Lights event taking place this Friday, November 22.
Parts of Main Street will be closed Friday evening for Main Street Lights to include Caldwell from Friend to Harrington Streets, Boyce from College to Nance Streets, and McKibben from Main to Harrington Streets. College Street will remain open at Main Street for thru traffic.
These street closures will take place at approximately 1 p.m. on that Friday and remain closed until approximately 8:30 p.m. The event itself will start at 5 p.m. downtown, with the tree lighting occurring around 6 p.m.
The Coca-Cola mural parking lot will remain closed all day on Friday.
This year’s event will once again feature the trackless train and large snow globe, features that Carey said are well received by the community.
The food truck, Wingz, Thingz and More will be serving baskets of food downtown that evening to include items such as chicken wings, French fries, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and more well as snack items.
Sugar Mama’s will be serving cotton candy, freeze dried candy and other snack-type foods. Goodies by Design will also be selling cookies, cakes, hot chocolate and warm beverages.
New to this year’s event, And Why Not Balloons! will be making balloon animals for those in attendance. Folks may remember seeing them at Oktoberfest this year, Carey said.
A full list of donors for this year’s event will once again be listed on the gift tags of the large present boxes in front of the tree at Community Hall.
The snow machines will be back in Memorial Park this year, Carey said and will run for the first time Friday night following the tree lighting.
The Newberry brass quintet, NB5 will be downtown Friday to entertain the crowd with their music. The quintet is made up of members Benny Ferguson and Nathan Lee on trumpet, Emily Gantt on horn, Patrick Casey on trombone and Bill Long on tuba.
The official ceremony begins around 6 p.m. featuring choirs from Gallman Elementary and Little Mountain Elementary Schools. The choirs will be positioned on the balcony of Community Hall.
Following the songs, the official countdown to the tree lighting will take place, followed by the singing of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
By 6:30 p.m., all of the lights should be on downtown and Carey invites visitors to walk around and check everything out. The Ritz Theater will be open for a free showing of The Muppet Christmas Carol at 7:30 p.m.
The Newberry Arts Center will also be open during the tree lighting and will have several different children’s art activities.
At 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, the Newberry Opera House will showcase the film, Christmas at Xander Point, largely filmed in Newberry during last year’s tree lighting. Tickets to these showings can be purchased online at www.newberryoperahouse.com.
What’s special, Carey said, is the great community effort that it takes to host the lights. Annually, local businesses and families champion Newberry’s holiday décor through donations collected. Carey extended a special thank you to the Devette family for their assistance in fundraising efforts again this season.
More Christmas Cheer
Beginning on Friday with the tree lighting and running every Friday through December through December 20, North Pole Nights will be in Memorial Park from 6-8 p.m. with the snow machines running downtown.
Santa will be in Memorial Park during this time for those that wish to meet him and take a quick photo, Carey said.
Children are also invited to write letters to Santa at home to bring and place in the letters to Santa mailbox that is located in Memorial Park downtown.
Can’t wait to talk to Santa? Call Newberry’s local radio station, WKDK starting on December 1 to leave your message for him this season at 803-638-3262.
Santa’s tours of Newberry will be starting back this year from 5-6 p.m. throughout the holiday season on December 6, 13 and 20. During this time, Santa will be taking a tour of Newberry’s neighborhoods by fire truck. Times, locations and more details on this event can be found at www.newberrychristmas.com under ‘Events.’
The City of Newberry is planning another fun photo contest involving this year’s downtown decorations! The photograph that best captures the magic of downtown Newberry during the holiday season will win a prize! This year’s photo contest will be run through an online platform, also allowing the community to vote for their favorite photos! This year’s contest winner will receive a digital photo frame and gift basket. Visit the City of Newberry on social media following downtown’s tree lighting for all the details.
“Christmas in Newberry is truly a city-wide effort,” Carey said. “We’re thankful for our partnerships with our city departments, the Newberry Opera House, the Newberry Downtown Development Association and others to help downtown look picture-perfect during the holiday season.”
For all things Christmas in Newberry, visit www.newberrychristmas.com.
The holiday season is almost underway in Newberry! Downtown’s community Christmas tree has arrived to Newberry. Bridget Carey, city tourism and events manager said this year’s tree, a Fraser Fir, stands at least 20-feet tall and weighs approximately 300+ pounds.
This year’s tree came to Newberry from Appalachian Farms of Cranberry in Western North Carolina. Each year, Austin Willingham of Willingham and Son’s in Newberry drives approximately six hours to pick up the tree and deliver it back downtown for the community to enjoy.
Fraser Fir trees are not farmed any farther South due to the climate, which is why the city purchases their tree from North Carolina.
Carey said the city was grateful each year for their partnership with Willingham’s and their willingness to deliver the tree to downtown Newberry.
The arrival of the tree marks the beginning of the holiday season with the city’s annual Main Street Lights event taking place this Friday, November 22.
Parts of Main Street will be closed Friday evening for Main Street Lights to include Caldwell from Friend to Harrington Streets, Boyce from College to Nance Streets, and McKibben from Main to Harrington Streets. College Street will remain open at Main Street for thru traffic.
These street closures will take place at approximately 1 p.m. on that Friday and remain closed until approximately 8:30 p.m. The event itself will start at 5 p.m. downtown, with the tree lighting occurring around 6 p.m.
The Coca-Cola mural parking lot will remain closed all day on Friday.
This year’s event will once again feature the trackless train and large snow globe, features that Carey said are well received by the community.
The food truck, Wingz, Thingz and More will be serving baskets of food downtown that evening to include items such as chicken wings, French fries, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and more well as snack items.
Sugar Mama’s will be serving cotton candy, freeze dried candy and other snack-type foods. Goodies by Design will also be selling cookies, cakes, hot chocolate and warm beverages.
New to this year’s event, And Why Not Balloons! will be making balloon animals for those in attendance. Folks may remember seeing them at Oktoberfest this year, Carey said.
A full list of donors for this year’s event will once again be listed on the gift tags of the large present boxes in front of the tree at Community Hall.
The snow machines will be back in Memorial Park this year, Carey said and will run for the first time Friday night following the tree lighting.
The Newberry brass quintet, NB5 will be downtown Friday to entertain the crowd with their music. The quintet is made up of members Benny Ferguson and Nathan Lee on trumpet, Emily Gantt on horn, Patrick Casey on trombone and Bill Long on tuba.
The official ceremony begins around 6 p.m. featuring choirs from Gallman Elementary and Little Mountain Elementary Schools. The choirs will be positioned on the balcony of Community Hall.
Following the songs, the official countdown to the tree lighting will take place, followed by the singing of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
By 6:30 p.m., all of the lights should be on downtown and Carey invites visitors to walk around and check everything out. The Ritz Theater will be open for a free showing of The Muppet Christmas Carol at 7:30 p.m.
The Newberry Arts Center will also be open during the tree lighting and will have several different children’s art activities.
At 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, the Newberry Opera House will showcase the film, Christmas at Xander Point, largely filmed in Newberry during last year’s tree lighting. Tickets to these showings can be purchased online at www.newberryoperahouse.com.
What’s special, Carey said, is the great community effort that it takes to host the lights. Annually, local businesses and families champion Newberry’s holiday décor through donations collected. Carey extended a special thank you to the Devette family for their assistance in fundraising efforts again this season.
More Christmas Cheer
Beginning on Friday with the tree lighting and running every Friday through December through December 20, North Pole Nights will be in Memorial Park from 6-8 p.m. with the snow machines running downtown.
Santa will be in Memorial Park during this time for those that wish to meet him and take a quick photo, Carey said.
Children are also invited to write letters to Santa at home to bring and place in the letters to Santa mailbox that is located in Memorial Park downtown.
Can’t wait to talk to Santa? Call Newberry’s local radio station, WKDK starting on December 1 to leave your message for him this season at 803-638-3262.
Santa’s tours of Newberry will be starting back this year from 5-6 p.m. throughout the holiday season on December 6, 13 and 20. During this time, Santa will be taking a tour of Newberry’s neighborhoods by fire truck. Times, locations and more details on this event can be found at www.newberrychristmas.com under ‘Events.’
The City of Newberry is planning another fun photo contest involving this year’s downtown decorations! The photograph that best captures the magic of downtown Newberry during the holiday season will win a prize! This year’s photo contest will be run through an online platform, also allowing the community to vote for their favorite photos! This year’s contest winner will receive a digital photo frame and gift basket. Visit the City of Newberry on social media following downtown’s tree lighting for all the details.
“Christmas in Newberry is truly a city-wide effort,” Carey said. “We’re thankful for our partnerships with our city departments, the Newberry Opera House, the Newberry Downtown Development Association and others to help downtown look picture-perfect during the holiday season.”
For all things Christmas in Newberry, visit www.newberrychristmas.com.
