PLATTE CITY’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY LIGHTING CEREMONY
Get ready for a switch-flipping.
The switch on Platte City’s downtown Christmas lights will get flipped the night before Thanksgiving, as has become tradition.
Official time for lighting magic? 6 p.m.
The annual Thanksgiving Eve tradition will be held Wednesday, Nov. 23 on Main Street. It’ll run from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and feature all kinds of holiday activities and traditional characters.
Want something new: Something called Christmas Karaoke is planned at the Beacon of Hope, which is located at the northwest corner of Second and Main Streets.
Holiday decorations and banners are up and storefront windows painted and decorated in advance of the celebration. Christmas lights will line buildings on both sides of Main and will remain on in the nighttime hours through the holiday season.
Dr. Jay Harris, the new superintendent at the Platte County R-3 School District, will have the honor of turning on the lights at 6 p.m.
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand. There will be horse-drawn carriage rides, a children’s sticker stop game for prizes, pony rides, face painting, a petting zoo, kids’ train rides, a live nativity scene, a balloon artist, live music, and much more.
What about food, you might ask? There will be free hot dogs, chili and water being served by the local firemen and police officers in the Central Platte Fire Protection District headquarters at the southeast corner of Second and Main Streets. Also available in the fire department will be fresh hot popcorn from Nodaway Valley Bank and frosted cookies from Wells Bank.
There will be cookies at the Opus Group office, treat bags at Cohen’s Art & Framing, hot cocoa at the Beacon of Hope, and candy canes at La Cabana Mexican Restaurant across from the courthouse.
There will be a couple of make-it-take-it locations, a Christmas selfie-station and the Sticker Stop board game “where the little ones collect all the stickers and turn in the game boards for prizes,” Friddell explained.
Life 88.5, Kansas City Christian radio, will be broadcasting live at the Snyder’s event space patio near Second and Main.
Tricia Friddell, executive director of the Platte City Chamber of Commerce, said drone footage will be recorded of the event and “produced into a 2-3 minute holiday video for our community.”
To avoid parking challenges, attendees can catch a free trolley ride from the Platte County High School parking lot to Main Street. The trolley runs every 15 minutes from 5 p.m. till 8:30 p.m.
The free community event is co-sponsored by the City of Platte City and the Platte City Area Chamber of Commerce.