Hundreds of people will gather in downtown Warsaw Friday evening for “Hometown Holly Days” – the theme again this year for First Friday in December.
The holiday celebration starts at 5 p.m. and continues to 9 p.m., including activities in Central Park.
The fourth annual Twinkle Light Parade starts at 7 p.m. on Center Street, making its way down to the park. Special guests in the parade will include Mr. and Mrs. Claus from the North Pole.
The Breakfast Morning Optimists will have its Santa House on the southeast corner of the county courthouse. Each kid visiting with Santa Claus will get a free candy cane.
There will be pop-up shops, and downtown merchants will have special sales along with hot chocolate and cider to warm participants up.
Key Bank is sponsoring carriage and sleigh rides through the park for a fee of a canned food item or toy.
First Christian Church will have a live nativity scene.
“Light Up the Night” will be at Central Park from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., with the lighting of the park at 7:30 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be wandering through the park and handing out candy canes and meeting with children after the lights are lit. Carolers from Jefferson and Eisenhower elementaries’ choirs will perform at 7:30 to 8 and 8 to 8:30 p.m. at the Glover Pavilion.
The 8-foot Indiana Bicentennial Torch will be on hand at Central Park this weekend, too, according to Paula Bowman, First Friday event coordinator. A flyer box will provide information for people to order a torch of their own for $500.
The Kosciusko County Committee to Celebrate Indiana’s Bicentennial wants each community in the county to have a torch to display at events in their community throughout 2016 to show their pride in Indiana. Businesses, organizations and the public also may purchase torches.
These torches then can be brought to the courthouse to be displayed during the Festival Sept. 30 to Oct. 1. At the conclusion of the festival, torches will be returned to the towns.
Made by Herman’s Christmas Land, each torch is 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide at the widest star points and comes in two pieces.
Email in200kos@gmail.com or contact Bowman at 574-376-0233 or Diane Wulliman at 574-372-2474 with questions.
First Friday is sponsored by the Dane and Mary Louise Miller Foundation and the City of Warsaw.
