Gonzales Main Street gears up for holidays

GONZALES — It's less than a month until Gonzales' Winterfest, even though the temperatures haven't quite put anyone in a holiday mood. But officials at Gonzales Main Street are planning for a robust slate of activities for when the cheer strikes.

Main Street Administrator Barbara Friedrich ticked off some events that will be happening around the Dec. 1 Winterfest, such as a tree and window decorating contest. Trees will need to be dropped off at Texas Heroes Square on Nov. 29 for judging. The “Winter Wonderland Window Decorating Contest” will be judged during the same time, and downtown and surrounding businesses are encouraged to compete. There's a $250 prize on the line for the best dressed window.

Winterfest will return with Breakfast with Santa, Jingle Mingle, Winterfest 5K, historic homes tour, lighted parade, and more. Parents will be delighted to see the return of the carousel and load of snow that will be hauled in for the occasion.

And as always, plenty of food and drink will be for sale downtown upon the traditional arrival of Santa Claus. Parade applications and a full schedule can be found on Main Street's Facebook page.

Friedrich also said that GVEC was busy putting up new string lights on the rooflines of downtown businesses. The lights combined will run approximately 7,000 feet and cost over $10,000, which are being paid for by the businesses. The lights are LED style and should last 10 years, she explained.

Some other lights have led a less fortunate existence over at Texas Heroes Square. The board voted a couple years back to spend over $2,000 for new lights to string in the trees on the square there and decided to leave them up year round. Now, several strands are hanging loosely from the branches and many have lost their bulbs. Friedrich said that she was hoping that Main Street members and volunteers would be able to go over and fix them as needed.