Riley Francis and Issac Loeffler admire the lights on the city Christmas tree. (Johnson Publications photo)
Heather Stumpff, right, Henley Worth and Angel the Corgi wave from the Veterinary Services float. (Johnson Publications photo)
Caysie Hudson waves to Santa from a safe distance, as her mom Sara smiles. (Johnson Publications photo)
Large crowds gather for Imperial Christmas fest
Downtown Imperial was the place to be last Thursday.
Before the parade of lights started, crowds gathered for free hot chocolate provided by Trish Dorn, took photos by the lighted tree and visited the live nativity set.
The event, started by the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, was also organized by Chris Krausnick and Sara Stretesky.
“I think the whole thing went over pretty well,” Chamber President Jana Pribbeno said. “I heard a lot of good comments.”
Pribbeno said the total cost of the event was close to $5,000, which included rental of St. Patrick Parish Hall, soup serving and cleanup, advertising and the Chamber scratch tickets.
One of the best received pieces of the event was the city tree.
After speaking with the city’s regular Christmas decoration supplier, City Clerk/Administrator Jo Leyland ordered 1,000 feet of lights.
City workers strung the lights in the green space along main street by the city offices to look like a Christmas tree.
“It looked beautiful,” Leyland said. “They did such a good job.”
Leyland wasn’t sure how the event would be received in its first year. “I didn’t know if people would participate,” she said, “but it was awesome.”
“It’s so nice when people can gather in our community like that.”
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