Crisp weather provided the perfect backdrop for Wimberley’s inaugural Hometown Holidays nighttime parade last Saturday. Along the parade route families turned out early to get a favored spot to take in the parade and to watch the evening unfold. Several groups tailgated with food and drink, but most family and friend groups sat in portable chairs bundled in jackets and sweaters.
Twinkling parade floats, trucks, a fire engine and horse drawn carriages began their journey from the EmilyAnn Theatre and Gardens, past the big lighted tree near Ace Hardware, and across the Cypress Creek bridge to the downtown square where several hundred people gathered for live music, festivities and a visit with Santa.
In a delightful crush of kids, parents and their counterparts, children waited for Santa, sports enthusiasts watched the LSU-Oklahoma game on a big screen TV, toys were delivered to the Barnabas Connection toy drive, and shoppers visited stores looking for the perfect holiday gift.
The Hill Country Honeys kept spirits bright with live music until Santa made his entrance. While Mayor Jim Chiles addressed the crowd with remarks thanking sponsors and organizers and introducing the City of Wimberley’s new tourism director, Michelle Woods, Santa waited to take his place in the big chair at the foot of a 30-foot Christmas tree twinkling with lights.
In no time, Wimberley’s Santa took center stage and one by one, children came forward to visit with the man in red. Santa proved to be a powerful draw in the magic created by the first annual Hometown Holidays spectacle. Now that the template has been drawn, future Hometown Holiday parades promise to ring in the most wonderful time of the year for Wimberley.
