TEXARKANA, Ark. - Christmas festivities continue at Crossties this weekend with a last chance for children to meet Santa Claus at the Crossties Christmas Tree Wonderland.
Decorated trees are another highlight there, with a path to Santa winding through the trees sponsored and adorned with ornaments by dozens of local businesses. Children can also decorate an ornament at Santa's workshop and get a cookie from Mrs. Claus, plus send a letter directly to Santa at the North Pole Post Office.
The array of Christmas trees have added to the festively illuminated feeling in downtown Texarkana, which helps brighten the neighborhood even without a Christmas parade this year.
This Saturday's Santa visits run from noon to 3 p.m. and again starting at 5 p.m. A picture is included in the Santa meeting. The Christmas trees will remain after the holiday itself, but this will be the last chance to see Santa since Christmas arrives next Friday.
Les Munn, one of the Crossties partners, said people can visit the Christmas trees anytime they wish. However, a Santa visit offers something special for the youngsters.
"When you walk in the gate there where all the trees are, you follow the little path and it leads you right to Santa sitting under that awning out there," Munn said.
In all, he said, they've had 96 Christmas tree entries sponsored. They'll announce the contest winner next week. People can vote the old-fashioned way by casting their ballot into a bucket. Crossties will tally the votes at the end of the contest and make an announcement, likely around Christmas Eve.
"We challenged the businesses and the different entities to get involved. It's been really cool how they've responded to that," Munn said.
The Christmas tree sponsorship fee took care of the cost of the tree itself, plus 10% for their nonprofit #HoldOntoYourBritches Christmas to fund a happier Christmas for children in need.
In an earlier Gazette article about the event, Munn said about the response from locals, "We brought back these trees from Northwest Arkansas and put the word out. They got spoken for very quickly by various businesses, civic organizations and other entities. The response was more than we hoped for with people still coming up and asking about it long after we closed it off to entries."
(Santa Claus visits are $5. More info: Visit the Crossties page on Facebook.)