NEWBERRY ‒ It’s that time of year again as Christmas is a time of celebration, with festivities, reunions, gift giving and decorations on houses and along streets. While Christmas honors the birth of Christ, the December holiday season encompasses other activities, traditions and beliefs with the common thread of goodwill, compassion and love toward others.

Besides the popular traditional Christmas tree with colorful ornaments and twinkling lights, many people and businesses decorate their homes and buildings with lights, with some expending much time, effort and expense each year. The City of Newberry has joined in the holiday lights decorating tradition with a citywide contest for businesses and residences.

Light has been significant in Christmas celebrations for centuries and candles were lit to “signify the light of Jesus.” The tradition of electrical lights on trees and houses was first introduced to the holiday world in 1882 by Edward Johnson, a friend and partner of light-bulb inventor Thomas Edison. Lit fires presented a hazard, and Johnson’s idea was to replace the candles with a string of colored electric lights, which he did with eight bulky, pear-shaped bulbs on a single wire. The idea didn't really catch on in America until the 1920s when General Electric’s pre-assembled lights became more accessible and cheaper.

Over the years as electric and lighting technology advanced, so did the idea of creating a festive atmosphere in communities with a variety of lights to create a magical wonderland. People often spend weeks decorating the exterior of their houses and yards for others to enjoy. Towns decorate their Main Street areas for the month and businesses decorate their shops in the holiday spirit.

Alachua, High Springs and Newberry all decorated their towns in their unique style and each held a tree lighting and Christmas parade with visits from Santa Claus. Last year in 2020, Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe kicked off “Light Up Newberry,” a contest for best building decoration for both businesses and residences. With the Covid restrictions in place, Jordan knew the contest was a community activity for the season that still maintained the safety precautions of social distancing. This year, “Light Up Newberry” entries were viewed by voters and a committee with the top three winners in each of three categories announced Dec. 19.

In the Business Front category, third place went to Glanzer Realty, second place went to Newberry Ace Hardware and first place went to Bosshardt Realty Service. In the Business Window category: third place went to Sugar, Refined, second place went to Rebecca's Hair Studio, and first place went to Beauty & Pain Solutions Massage. Finally, in the Residential category: third place went to Jason and Haley Ryan, second place went to Logan Euler, and first place went to Shawn and Angie Walker.

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ALACHUA ‒ The Alachua Woman’s Club was ablaze with lights and sounds of the season last Saturday night as they celebrated the Charity Ball of Saint Nicholas. The Alachua Woman’s Club organization and its landmark historic stone building have been fixtures on Main Street since 1936. The club itself was founded in 1912 during the summer when three new classrooms were built onto the wooden school house in Alachua. The county school board had no money available to buy the furnishings for the new classrooms, including desks, chairs, blackboards, books, and even chalk.

A primary teacher by the name of Mrs. Hilton, who had taught in other schools brought an idea that she had seen work in other places before a gathering of Alachua parents and teachers. Her suggestion was for parents and teachers to join together and form a club that would focus on solving the problems of school needs.

Originally called The School Improvement Club of Alachua, the group was charged with creating unity and fellowship for a woman's organization, so the members were primarily female.

They organized fund raising projects throughout the year and were able to raise enough money to furnish the new schoolrooms, pay a $125 down on a piano, and hire a janitor for the school, and they continued their goal though the years. In 1921 the club members decided that not only did the school need their continued help, but also there were many things they could do to help the community so they changed the club’s name to The Improvement Club of Alachua.

By 1924, the group had grown bigger and idea of an central clubhouse was discussed, but it would be another 14 years before the historic building on Main Street was built. In 1949 the club’s name changed once again and became The Alachua Woman’s Club (AWC). But the focus through the years stayed the same—an organization of women focused on helping schools and education by raising funds and volunteer work.

Each year the AWC awards a full, two-year scholarship to Santa Fe College to a girl graduating from Santa Fe High School. They also operate the first Food 4 Kids program in Alachua, which provides food for hungry children at Alachua Elementary School. Each holiday season they donate funds to the two elementary schools to help provide toys and clothes for children in need.

The clubhouse is not only a meeting place, but is also used to host events and raise funds for charitable projects as a rental event space, so the building has seen a lot of use including a restoration campaign in 2007. Old buildings need upkeep and during the pandemic shutdown, the club made some major repairs. The wood floors needed sanding and varnish. Cracks in the 73-year-old structure needed structural repairs, plastering, and painting.

“The amount of support from the community and business was amazing,” said Alachua CRA director Lindsey Rizzo. “We had volunteers to do much of the work for free and financial funding from a number of organizations.”

But there is still work to be done, so as their first event since the pandemic, the Woman's Club held their first annual Charity Ball of Saint Nicholas on Dec. 4 to thank all their sponsors and supporters and raise additional funds with a silent auction.

Saint Nicholas greeted all the guests at the door and mingled with the crowd during the reception hour as guests enjoyed appetizers from a buffet provided by caterer Taste of Gainesville while Wayne's World DJ provided music and guests had the opportunity to place bids for the silent auction.

At 7 p.m. Woman's Club Building Manager Emelie Matthews and Rizzo gave awards to their top three Gold Sponsors - Holiday Inn Express, Polaris of Gainesville and Emory Group Companies. They also thanked six Platinum sponsors and the 15 partners in the restoration efforts.

Santa, now dressed as the authentic Saint Nicholas of Myra, told the history of the man and how he transitioned into Santa Claus. The DJ also led the assembled group in a sing along of Christmas songs and the evening finished off with an hour of dancing and announcement of the winners of the silent auction, which saw all items sold. For members of the Woman's Club, who spend their energy and resources helping others, it was a night that the community gave back to them in the Christmas spirit.

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ALACHUA ‒ Christmas in Alachua is in full swing this holiday season. For the past 37 years the Alachua Chamber of Commerce has hosted the annual Christmas Parade on downtown Main Street. Each year local businesses, the City of Alachua, civic groups and churches sponsor floats to entertain spectators and compete for prizes.

This past Saturday, children anxiously awaited the parade for a chance to see Santa Claus and collect sweet treats tossed from decorated floats or handed out by people walking alongside.

Due to COVID, last year many activities were canceled. High Springs opted to cancel their annual parade in 2020 but the City of Alachua moved forward with the community tradition. Last year’s event was smaller than previous years, both in crowd size and in number of floats and entries. Instead of the usual 35-40 floats, there were only 28. But the festivities, enthusiasm and spirit of Christmas celebration were still evident, despite the changes brought on by the virus.

This year, the tradition continued, and both the community and the Chamber were ready to bring back the event better than before. The weather was clear and mild with 40 floats participating to a packed crowd that lined all the way along Main Street, with many of the crowd wearing festive Christmas themed clothes and accessories. The City of Alachua and Chamber have been working hand in hand to celebrate the entire month, creating weekly Fa La La Fridays, in addition to the parade and tree lighting.

The parade always starts with a police escort. With lights flashing and sirens wailing motorcycle patrolmen lead the parade, followed by police cars from Alachua and High Springs. The parade's Grand Marshal, Emelie Matthews who is the building manager for the Alachua Woman's Club, along with Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper, greeted the crowd from a vintage convertible Mustang car. The State Champion Santa Fe High School Ladies Raiders Volleyball team was next in line, as the crowd applauded them and members of the team handed candy to the children lining the curb. Following them was a color guard of three Marine veterans. Other members of the Marine Corps League of veterans followed in a World War II army jeep.

The colorful procession of floats, sponsored by civic organizations, businesses, churches and the City of Alachua, slowly cruised Main Street while float participants tossed candy to the children lining the route. Participating floats included Lee's Pre School, City of Alachua, All Stars Twirling Academy, the 4-H Club, Momentum Dance Academy, Alachua Raiders, Santa Fe Babe Ruth baseball team, Santa Fe High School Marching Band, Mi Apa restaurant, Vystar and Kinetic Wireless.

The 4-H Club also had horses and riders decorated for Christmas. Decorated motorcycles weaved in and out on the street as did the ever-present Shriners Club riding a variety of vehicles. Another group that always enters the parade in a large and colorful float is the Hare Krishna who chant for peace as they walk down the street. Each float paused at the judging booth vying for awards.

In the Music/Dance category, first place went to Momentum Dance, second place went to Santa Fe Raider Marching Regiment and third place went to the All-Star Twirling Academy. In the general float competition, the City of Alachua took first place with their 12 Days of Christmas float, Lee's Pre-School and Tanner Construction took second and third place respectively.

While everyone enjoyed the floats and festive mood, the part of the parade the children had been waiting for finally arrived. At the tail end of the parade, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus waved to the children as they by rode by on top of a fire truck. Children responded, waving and calling out Santa's name to try and catch his attention. While the children were excited to see Santa at the parade, they all will be dreaming of another visit from Santa…on Christmas eve.

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ALACHUA ‒ Alachua is doing it up big this holiday season as events are happening every weekend throughout the month. In 2006, the City of Alachua began holding several events to celebrate Christmas with the community. Longstanding events started the first Friday of the month with a tree lighting ceremony along with a visit from Santa Claus, followed the next weekend by a Christmas parade with brightly colored floats, marching bands, and all sorts of conveyances on Main Street. The event has grown every year, both in size of the crowd and participation of Alachua businesses.

But like so many other things, the COVID pandemic limited the event in 2020. While it was still held, changes were made and events were moved to Skinner Park where the outdoor space allowed for social distancing. While Santa still greeted the crowd from his carriage and did the countdown to the tree lighting, there was no face-to-face meeting with the children, music was limited, and safety concerns even impacted the tradition of giving out candy, hot chocolate and cookies.

This year, the celebration is in overdrive. On Dec. 3, Main Street was decorated with brightly lit multi-colored lights and downtown businesses sponsored candy giveaways and children's activities. Santa and Mrs. Claus listened to children's Christmas wish lists as his elves helped direct the line so each child could meet Santa. The space was transformed into a magical spot covered in Christmas lights with cookies and gifts for the children. Musicians performed along the brightly lit street as families strolled along, peeking in shop windows after the official tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. The tree lighting, visit with Santa, and the parade has become a holiday tradition throughout the community.

It is a month-long celebration as Alachua is bringing back the magic of the holiday season. Under the guidance of CRA director Lindsey Rizzo, “Holiday Nights on Main Street” features a whole series of events to keep the Christmas spirit alive. The tree lighting in Skinner park was the kick off for the season. Called “Fa La La Fridays,” all three Fridays before Christmas will feature a series of events sponsored by the businesses on Main Street, the City of Alachua and corporate sponsors. “The events are the work and coordination of numerous volunteers and businesses, and we are grateful for all the work they put into this,” said Rizzo. “We wanted to make this a celebration of the whole holiday month with participation from the whole community, not just the singular events of the past.”

Some of the changes from last year remained, such as the tree lighting at Skinner Field. Santa arrived in his carriage and announced the tree lighting countdown, but this year the children could again sit on Santa's lap.

“We found that moving all the city events to one location last year made more sense and focused activities in the park. But we also got a lot of support from businesses and organizations on Main Street,” said Rizzo. Photos with Santa were provided by Magnolia Lane Photography and Alachua Boy Scout Troop 88 provided hot chocolate. Capitol City Bank provided popcorn and costumed characters in the park while the City provided cookies and a snow machine blowing out pretend flakes.

Along with decorative lights and Christmas trees, carriage rides on Main Street offered a nostalgic glimpse of times past The City also added a selfie photo opportunity in Santa's Sleigh. Kelly's Kreations set up a candle making workshop for kids and Alachua Flowers provided an ornament making class, while the office of Michael Turner, CPA offered free gift wrapping. The Alachua Woman's Club provided other activities for children. Springs Title set up a movie screening on a building wall. Other sponsors who provided materials or funding included Vystar, Fracture, Signarama and Dollar General. All these activities are part of the Fa La La Fridays and will continue for the next two Fridays.

Other events that are part of the month-long celebration include a performance of the Nutcracker at Legacy Park on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. The Christmas Parade will be held on Main Street on Dec. 11, a children’s bash at the Woman's Club on Dec. 12, Pizza and Pajama events with Santa at My Pizza Place on Dec. 16 and 18 and the grand opening of Manor on Main on Dec. 21. More information on all events can be found at holidaynightsonmain.com.

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