Gladewater’s new community Christmas tree is standing tall and proud downtown – and just wait ’til it’s officially lit for the first time this weekend.
Star-topped, the green boughs were bereft of ornaments on Monday, but there will be plenty to see by the time Gladewater’s Holiday Open House kicks-off downtown at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“The downtown Christmas elves are working on ornaments,” according to Lois Reed of Gladewater Chamber of Commerce. “They’re going to be fabulous!”
Reed spearheaded the effort to replace the previous community tree after Christmas 2023, raising almost $19,000 to fund a 24-foot artificial Douglas Fir.
“Already lit!” she says excitedly, adorned with 8,300 lights spread between 27,478 branch tips. “It’s going to be beautiful.”
Gladewater’s firefighters assembled the new tree last week. With the sun setting at 5:22 p.m. Saturday evening and the last light of day fading about 5:48 p.m. the tree will be lit at precisely 6 p.m. Nov. 9 by members of the Gladewater High School Honey Bears under Captain Ava Langford (Gladewater’s 2024 Yamboree Duchess).
“This is the 45th year of the Honey Bears,” Reed said. “They’re going to be the ones to do the countdown and flip the switch.
Saturday’s holiday season kick-off continues until 7:30 p.m. and includes a wide variety of activities throughout downtown.
“Santa will make his seasonal debut,” Reed noted. “We’ll have Christmas carolers – they’re coming back. We’ll have the carriage rides. I’ll have a facepainter in the children’s area. Food trucks.
“The kids can write their letters to Santa.”
A DJ will be playing Christmas music throughout the event to help attendees get into the spirit, she added.
“I don’t ever want it to get in a routine. It’s got to have things to make it different and exciting.”
Importantly, Reed said, the holiday open house began with the downtown antique dealers and shops. They wanted to celebrate their customers and treat them at the holidays, staying open late and laying out some goodies.
“Through the past eight to 10 years, it’s grown. We’re advertising it more,” she added. “Some shops will still offer cookies and cider, which we appreciate. We also invite food trucks to come because the crowd has grown so that our downtown restaurants cannot service everybody that gets hungry at the same time. It’s also a tradition for the chamber and GEDCO to serve hot chocolate with a smile, that southern hospitality tradition.
“Once the tree is lit, it’s officially Christmastime in Gusherville.”
