The City of Clarkesville’s “Downtown Clarkesville Christmas,” event drew a huge crowd for an evening of music, lights, sweet treats and holiday magic.
“I’m astounded,” said Clarkesville Main Street Director Trudy Crunkleton. “It has been probably the largest Christmas that we’ve ever had.”
Crunkleton said large crowds patronized local businesses and restaurants, and the Clarkesville Christmas Cookie Crawl was so popular the city sold out of cookie boxes for attendees to participate with.
Santa made an appearance, taking photos and chatting with area children, while the Grinch kept kids in line entertained.
“[I told Santa] I’d like a little tiny piano [that] can play music by itself,” Naomi Brielle, 5, said. She said she loved meeting Santa, and was feeling particularly festive as she told Now Habersham about her classroom Elf on the Shelf, “Peppermint.”
Characters like the Grinch and ladies and gentlemen dressed in Victorian-era Christmas clothing wandered the streets of Clarkesville from the Habersham Community Theater, with Victorian carolers promoting “A Christmas Carol,” playing now at the theater.
Among all the joy community members shared as they gathered, and the magic of the Christmas season that made Historic Downtown Clarkesville even more charming, the Mauldin House took on a new glow as the gardens sparkled with new Christmas lights.
“It was a huge success,” Crunkleton said. “I couldn’t be happier, [there’s] nothing I would change at all.”
There are more Christmas events on the horizon, with Cornelia’s Christmas event and Cleveland’s “Christmas in the Mountains” lighted parade on Saturday, Dec. 4, and even more to come. Click here for a list of area holiday events and parades, and here for area Christmas light displays.
