Christmas is for kids, both young and young at heart

 

The Whitecourt and District Chamber of Commerce brought smiles and fun to downtown Whitecourt on Saturday, December 1 for its annual Christmas is for Kids event. Held over at the Royal Canadian Legion, the event brought families together to celebrate the holidays with all sorts of free goodies. On top of free hot dogs, free pizza, free cookies, and free hot chocolate, attendees were met with tables filled with craft ideas as they entered the hall.

Face painting was also available on site and glitter tattoos added to the fun, too. Outside there was a roaring fire to gather around and warm up and wagon rides with Cactus Patch Ranch which took eager riders on a quick tour of the downtown core. “This was an amazing event as it is every year. We had so many people come by to enjoy it which is great,” said Chamber President Paula Miller.

Many different local businesses came together to make the event a success including Whitecourt Transport who helped beef up the fire outside, Aesthetics Clinique Skin and Laser Clinic for sponsoring the wagon rides, Whitecourt REMAX for the sparkling tattoos that added pizzazz to the afternoon and delicious coffee and hot chocolate from Beaver Creek General Store. With so many mouths to feed there were several food sponsors including Whitecourt IGA, Panago Pizza, Millar Western Forest Products, and Life Medical Clinic.

Prior to the excitement at the Legion, families also had the chance to catch a free movie at the theatre thanks to AECOM. Home Alone was the perfect fit for the holiday celebration. What’s a Christmas celebration without Santa? The big jolly man himself was up on the stage at the Legion giving hugs and posing for pictures thanks to the Shannon Konsmo Professional Corporation. The final sponsor that helped make sure the event was a hit was the Town of Whitecourt. Along with members of the Chamber, the Boys & Girls Club of Whitecourt and District and Little Big Fort were on hand to help with the many needs that popped up.

“To all the Whitecourt residents who brought their children and families, thank you for coming! We hope that it was as fun for you as it was for us,” smiled Miller. The next big project for the Chamber of Commerce is the I’m Dreaming of a Whitecourt Christmas promotion. From now until December 21, a slew of participating businesses will be stamping cards for each $20 purchase made. Each card requires $400 to be spent before it can be dropped off in a draw box located at each business.

“All participating stores are now set up. When you are shopping at local participating businesses, you’ll be able to receive your stamp card and be put in for the draws. A winner will be drawn every week on Mondays and we have gift cards up for grabs. Thank you to all the businesses that are supporting our Shop Local program and all the businesses that supported our parade and our Christmas is for Kids event.”