As expected, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived in person Thursday as the City of Brownsville officially kicked off the holiday season with the annual Washington Park Tree Lighting Ceremony.
The famous duo arrived under escort by the Brownsville Fire Department at 6:25 p.m. to join District 4 City Commissioner Pedro Cardenas and begin the countdown to flip the switch to illuminate the park.
“We did a little bit of research and we found Christmas celebrations in the park that we can date back about 100 years in this park, Washington Park,” said Shannon G. Contreras, special events coordinator for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Parks and Recreation coordinated the event, with Contreras directing the last-minute here and there of getting everything in place on time Thursday afternoon.
The festivities continued until 10 p.m., complete with free hot chocolate, coffee and cookies while supplies lasted, Christmas music by Perez, Cromack and Keller elementary schools, food and artisan vendors, family activities including gingerbread cookie decorating and face painting, scads of picture opportunities and a free showing of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” featuring Jim Carey.
Eight-year-old Melody Castillo, a second-grader at Los Fresnos Elementary School, sang the National Anthem in a cappella.
“When we light up the trees we have 40 trees, eight miles of lights if you put ‘em all down a row. If you weigh ‘em all together they weigh approximately 125 pounds and there are an estimated 120,000 lights,” Contreras said.
Thursday afternoon, Parks and Recreation had set up tables under gazebos to accommodate the 59 artisan vendors Contreras said were lined up for the event. There were to be food vendors, 25 in all, selling everything from tacos to ceviche, kettle corn to elotes, tortas, enchiladas and everything else in Brownsville’s well known carnival cuisine.
“So we have a holiday market, we’ve got photos with Santa. Santa’s escorted by the Brownsville Fire Department, truck and everything. The emcee for tonight is Mr. Adam Cardona with NBC 23,” Contreras said.
To see more, view Brownsville Herald photojournalist Miguel Roberts’ full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Santa helps city flip switch at Washington Park
