End-of-year events start to stack up on schedule

This year’s 52nd annual Gladewater Arts & Crafts festival drew more than 70-vendors to welcome hundreds and hundreds of hunters of handmade goods over the weekend.
Gladewater Chamber of Commerce’s Lois Reed gave council members a final preview Sept. 18 before launching into a rundown of other upcoming events in the community.
Find more details in this issue on the Mayor’s Town Hall Oct. 7, the Oct. 11 Citywide Cleanup and the annual Emergency Services Fall Fest Oct. 25.
Other key events in the coming weeks and months include the Weldon Bumblebee Honor Game (Friday, Oct. 3), the regular October Gladewater City Council meeting (Thursday, Oct. 16) as well as an Oct. 20 community breakfast hosted by Christus Trinity Clinic alongside the chamber.
“They invite everyone to come down to the local clinic from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30, and they’re going to provide breakfast for us,” Reed said.
A few weeks later, this year’s Holiday Open House is set for Saturday, Nov. 8, downtown.
“We have big plans for this year,” Reed said. “If y’all thought the tree was gorgeous last year… thanks to Stoney and Michelle Stone it’s going to be fantastic. She’s going to help with the decorating,” with Gladewater firefighters assisting with hanging the higher items.
The chamber’s next quarterly luncheon is set for noon Monday, Nov. 17, then Shop Small Saturday returns Nov. 29 after Thanksgiving and Black Friday Nov. 27-28.
Come December, the second Saturday brings both Wreaths Across America and the 2025 Gladewater Christmas Parade.
The wreath-laying event begins at 11 a.m. Dec. 13, occurring simultaneously with similar commemorations across the country as volunteers lay donor-funded wreaths on the graves of service members interred in local cemeteries.
The parade begins at 5 p.m. later that day.