(Le Mars) –– As the song implies, “Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” as Le Mars celebrated the first annual Hometown Christmas celebration on Saturday. The celebration started in the morning when several children were able to meet Santa Claus’ favorite reindeer, Rudolph at the Brown’s Central Avenue Event Center. The children were each given a set of “antlers” to wear, as they decorated their waffles with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and candy sprinkles. Many people were visiting the Le Mars downtown shops as they observed “Small Business Saturday” and looking for great Christmas gift ideas. Several of the downtown businesses had a peddler’s cart in front of their business, calling even more attention to the start of the holiday season. At the Olson Cultural Event Center, Mike and Cheryl Wells served as emcees and presented the “Hometown Christmas in Le Mars” program featuring The Browns as they sang several Christmas-themed songs, and members of a dance school performed selections from the “Nutcracker Ballet.” The pinnacle of the evening was the countdown to lighting the 26-foot Christmas tree located at the Olson Cultural Event Center. Because of the restrictions limiting the number of people that could gather, the festive program was featured live on Facebook. It isn’t known as to how many people watched the program from their computers, i-pads, or cell phones.
