Hinton’s Hometown Christmas drew a second weekend of shoppers and activity into the city. The commercial and art venues stretched from the McCreery Hotel to the Freight Deport, the Technology Building, the Summers Middle School Gymnasium, The Ritz, and all the retail shops throughout town from the Big Four and the City Park to Avant Garde, the Mistletoe Market, Otter and Oak, Detra’s Toetally Polished Nails, Boho, Hinton Floral, the Market and Grandma’s House.
The event, again, pulled a community together while taking all necessary precautions to keep people safe, as planners provided masks and sanitizers and spaced things out for the purpose of social distancing. Decorations and window dressings spread holiday cheer everywhere and included a special ceremony at city hall to honor the Spirit of Hinton Chad Meador, Snow King Ashton Basham, and present stunning red roses to Snow Queen Emma Ford. Once things slowly closed in town, and a brief break, a new round of celebration picked things up again at sundown.
Over a dozen firetrucks from Hinton and neighboring communities lined up spanning well over a city block to offer a special tribute to emergency responders and healthcare workers as a theme to those who have sacrificed their own well-being to protect the health of others during the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020. Led by the Spirit of Hinton, Summers Health Department Administrator Chad Meador, and family, accompanied by the Snow Queen and Snow King traditionally featured in the Annual Christmas Parade and the holiday’s most world-renowned couple, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, the long line of fire trucks and emergency vehicles rolled out of the Hinton Fire Department firehouse and parking lot Saturday night to wind around the community.
This year’s parade was designed to head to the people allow families to watch the parade from the safe space of their front porches rather than gather in crowds along the parade route during the menacing spread of the virus. Mayor Jack Scott said the intention was to protect the community through social distancing.
The bright, music, bells, sirens, and shiny red fire engines with smiles, joyous waving, and holiday cheer meandered through neighborhoods and thrilled those gathered to watch the huge vehicles carefully maneuver around street corners beginning in Avis, through the city of Hinton to the police station in the West End, back to town on Summers Street, up to 2nd Avenue to Ballengee, around the McCreery Hotel, the courthouse, and back over the bridge into Avis and on to Bellepoint. The holiday parade circled Bellepoint and returned to Avis in a trek like no other, spotlighting medical professionals, first responders, nurses, and health department staff and EMTs in a tribute to their dedicated service throughout the nationwide pandemic.
With the parade and two weekends of serious retailing, the planners move forward. Next up, 12 Days of Christmas Concert on Dec. 12 at 5 p.m. in City Park. Andrea Richmond and Laura Cochran are accepting gifts to spread cheer to the nursing home residents at Summers Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Main Street Care on the 3rd floor of Summers ARH. A collection box will be set up at the concert in hopes of receiving gifts for every resident in each facility. A few suggestions for gifting are blankets, stuffed animals, coloring books and word searches, lotions and body wash.
Mrs. Claus Market is coming up on Dec. 19 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. for kids to Christmas Shop with Mrs. Claus at the Mistletoe Market. Everything for sale will be $1.00 or less as kids shop for their parents, grandparents, siblings, and everyone in the family including the pets. All money raised at Mrs. Claus’ Market will go to support next year’s Christmas activities. The event is hosted this year by Hinton’s Hometown Holiday.
