Hometown for the holidays

A fresh blanket of snow if on the ground, setting the scene for a Colfax Country Christmas. Kicking off at 4 p.m. Dec. 2 with Santa arriving, the community event is a great start to the holiday season.

“Santa Claus will help us light the City Christmas Tree on West Howard Street and then that will kick off our evening of business open houses, shopping, horse-drawn carriage rides, kids scavenger hunts, soup supper, Christmas Market at the Howard Street Christian Church, caroling and more,” Colfax Main Street Director Stuart Patterson said.

Following the tree lighting, activities will start at participating businesses including “Where’s Santa?,” a snowball search and writing letters to Santa.

“Some of our businesses and organizations are providing fun activities throughout town,” Patterson said. “We’ll give kids a ‘Where’s Santa?’ passport at the tree lighting ceremony (or they can pick one up at the Senior Center) which will lead them to the different stops where they have to find a small Santa and get their card stamped. They can turn those cards into the Colfax Senior Center before 7 p.m. to be entered into a prize drawing.”

The snowball hunt is a similar experience with snowballs hidden in participating businesses for kids to find. The snowballs can also be turned in at the Colfax Senior Center by 7 p.m. to win a prize.

“New this year is the Colfax Mingo High School music students will be performing their ‘Cocoas and Carols’ show while our soup supper is happening at the senior citizens center from 4:30 to 7 p.m.,” Patterson said. “People can come and go as you like and listen to the student performances. They’ll be raising money for their New Orleans trip, so please donate generously.”

Colfax Country Christmas is organized by Colfax Main Street’s promotion committee and many volunteers. Having events like the holiday celebration in the community is important to those who put the work in for the citizens.

“It’s important to have these events because we want our community members and visitors to have positive experiences and memories in historic downtown Colfax,” Patterson said. “We hope that it helps increase community positivity and pride about living in Colfax. We also hope it spurs on positive action from community members in taking care of their downtown and making sure their downtown is a fun and safe place to spend time.”

Along with the markets, scavenger hunts and good food, main street will be selling meat raffle tickets and Holiday Tour of Homes tickets. The meat raffle, which consists of a small bundle of beef or pork, will take place at 7:15 p.m. at the senior center. Presence is not required to win.

A fun evening for the community, it is a great way to show off the work done in Colfax and see where growth is happening in the city.

“Colfax Country Christmas has been going on in downtown Colfax for more than 30 years,” Patterson said. “I enjoy that our town has kept this tradition alive and going for so long. I have fun memories of going downtown to my grandpa’s pharmacy as a kid during Colfax Country Christmas and having a fun time; so hopefully we’re perpetuating those good memories for families today.”