Christmas in the Park Exemplifies Community Togetherness
Thank you to everyone who helped make Christmas in the Park 2019 another fun community event! From the parade to the endless hot cocoa, to the gingerbread contest. We enjoyed all of it!Everything about the event was perfect — the crowd, the music and the food! The Yelm Chamber of Commerce did an exceptional job of coordinating with our Police and Public Works departments to re-route traffic and make this popular winter event possible. The festivities kicked off at 9:30 with Grand Marshals Bill and Sara DeVore, followed by nearly 60 businesses and organizations marching down Mainstreet. We can’t forget to mention the wonderful announcers, Cory Kolilis, Joseph Richardson and Cyndi Schorno who helped provide a magical Christmas experience.
Following the Display on Mainstreet, the City Park park began to fill with families and Christmas tunes, provided by all grade levels of the Yelm Community School’s band and choir students. Every year the local businesses work together to feed our community by serving hot chili, cocoa, cookies, hotdogs, and many other goodies throughout the day.
On one end of the park, we had free hot dogs (nearly 3,000 of ‘em), cocoa, cookies and other goodies which were all donated by Mr. Doug’s restaurant and served up by volunteer staff from Yelm Community School. And under the stage, we had Prairie Baptist Church stirring up delicious chili. The spicy and sweet aroma of ginger and candy filled the Inside the Community Center as we observed little houses framed with candy canes, rooftops made of graham crackers and gumdrops, and lawns made of cotton candy, and an entire SCHOOL! The architecture in this year’s contest was top notch!
Congratulations to the Yelm Middle School art students for taking home first-place for their outstanding replica of the new Yelm Middle School. We can’t wait to see your new school come to life!
On the other side of the Community Center, you could find our dedicated team of City employees providing hundreds of free pictures with Santa. A special ‘thank you’ is owed to the Community Development and IT staff for making this happen year after year.
Christmas in the Park would not be in its 31st year without the hard work of volunteers, especially co-chairs Cecelia Jenkin and Denise Hendrickson. This event remains possible through the generous donations by our local organizations, schools, and businesses. This includes: Mr. Doug’s Restaurant, Yelm Rotary Club, Timberland Regional Library, Lions Club, FFA, FBLA, Yelm Community Schools, Today’s Dental, “Shear Purfections Grooming” and "Citizens for the Support of Yelm Schools."
We appreciate all of you who braved the rain to come celebrate the holidays together as a community — it was magnificent to kick off the holiday season with you!
