Christmas parades start the holiday season
Thanksgiving is a few days away, but communities across the Three Rivers Edition coverage area have for months been planning Christmas parades and celebrations, some of which will take place as soon as the last of the turkey leftovers are gone and the calendar changes to December.
In Batesville, the Christmas parade will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 1, beginning at East Main Street at South Central Avenue, but the parade is just the start of the city’s holiday celebrations. The Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce and the city will open the White River Wonderland after the parade at Riverside Park, and this year — with the help of a sponsorship from First Community Bank — they are adding a synthetic ice-skating rink to the area.
Jeff Owen, Batesville parks director, said a private business had an ice rink for the holidays for two years, but that was more than 10 years ago, and city officials are excited to be bringing this feature back for 2014.
“You see it up in the Northern states, where people ice skate, and it’s a Christmas tradition,” he said. “It’s kind of a novelty for a Southern state to have an outdoor ice rink.”
The synthetic ice, Owens said, is similar to regular ice but is easier to work with than the real frozen stuff.
“I was amazed at how it acts,” he said. “It acts just like ice.”
The parks department will manage the ice rink, and First Community Bank will cover the cost of the rink.
“Our hope is to give the community something to enjoy, but to also promote tourism and draw visitors to the area,” Dale Cole, chairman and chief executive officer of First Community Bank, said in a press release. “The addition of an ice-skating rink is a great way to complement what has already been done in creating the community’s White River Wonderland project.”
The rink will be open through Jan. 4. Hours of operation will be 1-10 p.m. Sunday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays. Open-skate rates are $5 per person and include skate rentals, and group rates are available. For more information, call (870) 698-2427.
Throughout the region, December will be filled with floats, crowds and Santa sightings as other cities put together parades to start the holiday season.
On Dec. 2, Jacksonville will host its 57th annual Christmas Parade
along Main Street. The parade will start at 6 p.m.
Several holiday parades will take place in the Three Rivers
Edition coverage area on Dec. 6. In Beebe, the annual Christmas Parade will start at 6 p.m. at Beebe High School. The Searcy Holiday of Lights Christmas Parade will also start at 6 p.m. that day. Meanwhile, in Heber Springs, the annual Christmas parade will begin at the same time and will offer the theme “A Magical Disney Christmas.”
On Dec. 11, the Christmas parade in Newport will start at 6 p.m. on Malcolm Avenue.
Cabot’s annual Christmas parade appears on the calendar for 3 p.m. Dec. 14 with the theme “A Cabot Candyland Christmas.”