The City of Lawrence, in conjunction with the Lawrence Central Rotary/Lawrence Kid’s Calendar’s Santa Rescue, will hold the official kickoff to the holiday season, including the countdown to turning on the holiday lights in Downtown Lawrence.
The events are scheduled to take place from 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, in front of Weaver’s Department Store, 901 Massachusetts St., in Downtown Lawrence. The lighting ceremony will take place at 6:20 p.m.
Hank Booth, the master of ceremonies, will begin the festivities with appearances by the Lawrence Central Rotary Club members, the Salvation Army and Mayor Courtney Shipley. Performances will inclue the Cantemos Youth Chorale, the Mason Family Fiddlers, the Lawrence High School Chorale and Richard Renner the Vaudeville Clown.
The Rotary club will have a special mailbox set up to collect letters to Santa. Letters can be written ahead of time; however, materials will be provided for those who want to write a letter onsite. Santa will not be able to stay and greet the crowd as he will need to head back to the North Pole and work with the elves to prepare for the holiday.
From 5-7 p.m., Massachusetts St. will be closed from 8th St. to 10th St. and 9th St. will be closed from Vermont St. to Massachusetts St. Parking will be available at the parking garage located at 9th and New Hampshire streets.
The Parks and Recreation Department began stringing lights downtown, at City Hall, in South and Centennial parks, Prairie Park Nature Center, the Lawrence Rotary Arboretum, the Union Pacific Depot and Eagle Bend Golf Course in mid-October. Approximately 120,000 lights will help make Lawrence festive over the holidays. All the lights are LED, which means they are more efficient and have lower energy consumption. As tradition, the lights will remain through Valentine’s Day.
For more information on the holiday lights, please contact Mark Hecker, assistant director of Parks and Recreation, mhecker@lawrenceks.org, (785) 832-3454. For the Central Rotary Club event, please contact Stephen Mason, Rotary club member, (785) 423-4670.
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