Baby it’s cold outside
The sun was out, but the temperature remained frigid, Saturday, during Miracles on Main Street in downtown Fredericktown.
For the fourth year in a row, Prancer the live reindeer, made his way to town. Children, and adults, lined up in front of Tis the Season to take a photo and even pet the magical creature. This memorable moment is made possible each year by the generosity of Statler Realty.
Owner of Statler Realty, Ray Statler said, it is important to him to bring Prancer to town because this may be the only chance some of these children get to meet a live reindeer. He said, Prancer has already agreed to come back for next year’s Miracle on Main Street.
After children visited with Prancer and had their picture taken in his sleigh, they headed back up to the courtsquare where they visited with Santa and received a present sponsored by Groomer Has It.
Some of the children found Santa a little frightening, and instead enjoyed a visit with the Grinch outside of Thal’s Hardware Store.
Next door, at the Fredericktown branch of the Ozark Regional Library, Mrs. Claus read Christmas stories every hour and offered free books to each child. This may have been a favorite stop, as it gave everyone a chance to warm up inside for a few minutes.
The day was filled with free family fun for all to choose from such as, puppet shows, face painting, cake walk, a s’mores stand, stocking decorating, cookie decorating kits, bounce house, reindeer food ornaments, and several coloring contests.
The polar express and sleigh rides also returned this year with Cherokee Pass Fire Protection District safely pulling them through town and down through Light Up Azalea Park.
Many of the days special guests, joined in on the rides through town. Characters such as Olaf, Princess Anna, Queen Elsa, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and many more came to town to meet the children and take pictures. Olaf could be seen dancing in the streets and the eyes of the children shined with glee as they met their favorite princesses.
New to this year’s event was the Santa Sleigh Bed Races. Teams of five competed a holiday-themed race while pushing a bed down West Main Street. Challenges included wrapping a team member in toilet paper to make a snowman, wrapping a present, dressing up as Santa and more.
The Fredericktown Fire Department team took first place in the races, Madison County EMS came in second and the Little Ceasars team came in third. It was a tight race in the end, but the true winners were the bystanders crowded downtown, watching the event.
The planning committee is already preparing for the Sleigh Bed Races to continue next year and hoping to have even more teams competing.
Event organizer April Sarakas said, the races were a fun edition to the day, and she loved seeing how much fun the teams had competing.
As the day continued, the sun went down and so did the temperature, but the cold did not stop the community from coming out to enjoy the parade.
Sarakas said, it was cold a cold day, but seeing all the people line the streets for the parade made all the work worth it.
For the third year, Melvin Mills Roofing took care of the Christmas tree on the south side of the Madison County Courthouse. Fredericktown Mayor Travis Parker and his family had the honor of officially lighting the tree. As in the past few years, this tree stands tall and is filled with endless lights.
“Melvin Mills does a wonderful job with the tree every year,” Sarakas said. “It gets better and better every year. It is a beautiful tree and they spent a lot of time this past week making sure it was stable and decorating it beautifully.”
After the tree lighting the streets began to fill as anticipation for the parade grew.
This year’s winners of the parade float contest were, 1st place Thal’s Hardware, 2nd place Melvin Mills Roofing and 3rd place Swinford Realty.
The parade consisted of floats, law enforcement, fire trucks, horses, trucks, the Fredericktown High School marching band, JROTC, and Gold Dusters, and the lineup ended with Santa Claus being escorted by the Fredericktown Fire Department, complete with eight “firefighter” reindeer “pulling” the sleigh.
The committee said it is already thinking of new ideas for next year, and members are always looking for input and suggestions. If you’d like to share anything with the committee, email april.sarakas@hotmail.com
“For years, I’ve felt like Miracles on Main Street has been the official start of Christmas for our town,” Sarkas said. “It may have been cold this year but our community still came together to bring a little Christmas magic to our town. On behalf of the planning committee, I would like to thank every single person, group, organization and business that helped make the event a success year after year. From decorating in the park and sprucing up the town to driving the Polar Express and running booths, it takes every single one of those volunteers to make this day special for the entire community.”
The planning committee would also like to thank all of this year’s sponsors, including, B&N Drywall and Painting, Cap America, Dynamite Tunes, Madison County Title, Madison County Wood Products, MCCDD, Melvin Mills Roofing, New Era Bank, Sargent Construction, Simmons Construction, Stockmann Logging, Azalea Festival Board, C-Barn, Chuck’s Short Stop, Ozarks Federal Savings & Loan, Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy, Patriotic Response and Emergency Planning, Schnapp, Fall, Silvey, Reid & Bollinger, and Swinford Realty.
The Fredericktown Fire Departments’s team rushes to the finish line during Santa’s Sleigh Bed Races, Saturday, during Miracles on Main Street. The team walked away with the fastest time and the first place trophy, which had not come in yet.
Zella Kelley, 7 months, reaches out to pet “Prancer” the live reindeer from the safety of her mom, Amber’s, arms. The experience was made possible by the generosity of Statler Realty, which covers the cost of “Prancer” to travel here all the way from the North Pole.
Victoria Kemper is a reporter for the Democrat News. She can be reached at vkemper@democratnewsonline.com
