Santa always leaves the North Pole early to make an appearance in the Drexel Christmas parade.
A white Christmas is a pretty rare event in Drexel, but the town did enjoy a white Christmas parade day back in 2018. The parade was held under gray skies and very chilly temperatures. Later that afternoon, snow began to fall, and it continued all night and into the following day.
One of the goals of the Town of Drexel is the revitalization of its downtown business district and one of the steps toward that goal is making the downtown more of a destination for events and activities.
And what better way to do that, according to Town Manager Bill Carroll, than by sponsoring a couple of events during the upcoming Christmas season?
“Economic development and revitalization is a goal of our town government,” said Carroll, “and the feeling is it’s time we put some skin in the game and begin sponsoring more activities.”
Over the past year, a number of musical events, fish fries, and community gatherings have taken place in the downtown park, but those have been sponsored and hosted by the private group, Grow With Drexel.
“We want to attract visitors to our downtown,” Carroll said, “but we also want to give our own residents activities that they can enjoy without having to travel to Valdese or to Morganton.”
Carroll also noted that as the town sponsors more events, town staff will be able to gain valuable experience in event planning and coordination in order to do even bigger events in the future.
So, what’s coming up in downtown Drexel for Christmas?
CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING
The town will sponsor its first ever Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 7:15 p.m. in the downtown park.
The lighting ceremony will immediately follow the town’s Board of Alderman meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. “We’ll keep it quick,” Carroll said of that meeting. “It won’t be a problem.”
A large, fresh-cut tree will be placed in the center of the park for the duration of the Christmas season and will be lighted for the first time that evening in the early December darkness.
The Grow with Drexel group will be providing hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and Christmas cookies for those in attendance and a children’s chorus from Drexel Elementary School will perform several holiday favorites.
“We’re hoping for perfect weather that evening,” Carroll said, “but the ceremony will be held rain or shine.”
The park is at the corner of Main and Church streets in the heart of downtown Drexel.
CHRISTMAS PARADE
The town’s annual Christmas parade will be held on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 10 a.m.
Although it’s too early to tell how many entries may be in this year’s parade, coordinator Scott Dula is expecting, as usual, a large number of participants.
The application for entering a unit in the parade can be found on the Town of Drexel website (ci.drexel.nc.us) or may be picked up at the Town Hall on Church Street.
When the parade ends, however, the holiday celebration will continue in the downtown area, with activities centered in the town park.
“We’ll have things for children to do, we’ll have musical groups performing throughout the day, and we’ll have Santa himself on hand starting at 1 p.m. to pose for pictures,” Carroll said.
One activity which Carroll thinks children will enjoy is the “Touch a Truck” exhibit which will allow them to clamber aboard fire trucks, emergency vehicles, and some of the town’s heavy machinery.
The day’s festivities will come to an end, Carroll said, at around 6 p.m.
Bill Poteat, who has the honor of serving as the announcer for the annual Drexel Christmas Parade, is editor emeritus of The Paper. He may be reached at 828-445-8595 or via email at bill@thepaper.media.
