Plenty to do Saturday to ring in Christmas
Published 8:43 pm Friday, December 1, 2017
There won’t be a shortage of ways to celebrate Christmas on Saturday. The calendar is packed full of events filled with holiday fun.
First Morning Art Walk will be the first to get under way at 8 a.m. Art studios throughout downtown Selma will be open for people to view and purchase art and even get their hands dirty. At A.C. Reeves’ studio on Lauderdale Street, there will be leaf printing. The Selma Art Guild, located at 905 Selma Ave., is helping people make their own wrapping paper for Christmas gifts.
At 9 a.m., floats and other entries for the annual Selma-Dallas County Christmas Parade will begin lining up.
Sheryl Smedley, executive director of the Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce, said the parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Broad Street and Dallas Avenue. It will continue down Broad Street towards Water Avenue and go up Water Avenue to Lawrence Street.
The Selma 15U All Stars team, who won the Dixie Baseball World Series in July, will be the grand marshals for the parade, which will feature floats, cars, bands, dance teams and even Santa Claus.
“It’s a fun time for the community to come out,” Smedley said. “It’s a community-wide event that’s been well supported over the years.”
As soon as the parade ends, the Dallas County Family Resource Center’s Christmas Tree Riverwalk will open at Riverfront Park.
The walk features Christmas trees decorated by Selma and Dallas County businesses, churches and other community organizations.
The trees will stay up throughout the month for people to enjoy. Many people were putting the final touches on their trees Friday afternoon.
Christmas on the Avenue also begins after the parade on Water Avenue. It will feature a gingerbread village at Phoenix Park, hot chocolate, coffee, donuts and storytelling.
Sturdivant Hall will host its annual Artisans Fair from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. It serves as a fundraiser for the historic house-museum and will feature arts and crafts from local artists, such as fine jewelry, pottery, soaps, candles, quilts and more.
Winn-Dixie is also hosting an event, “Taste of the Holidays.” It will be from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will feature food samples, live entertainment and giveaways. The first 500 customers will receive mystery gift cards worth anywhere from $5 to $500.