Alamogordo hosting Christmas tree lighting and Parade of Lights
ALAMOGORDO – Alamogordo is in celebration mode for the holiday season.
This Friday and Saturday, there are two events to get in the spirit of the season: Alamogordo Tree Lighting on Friday and the Alamogordo Chamber’s Parade of Lights on Saturday.
“(The parade) has been going on for years, I’m a lifetime resident of Alamogordo and I can remember my Girl Scout troop being a part of it,” Michelle Gill of the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce said. “It’s really a long-standing tradition in Alamogordo. It’s something that the Chamber really looks forward to putting together for Otero County.”
Friday night is the annual City of Alamogordo Tree Lighting ceremony from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Washington Park at the corner of East First Street and Washington Avenue.
The event will feature three special trees representing the police department, the fire department and the military that will be lit prior to the main tree lighting ceremony.
The first 300 attendees will receive free hot chocolate, a free cookie and a cup of free green chile stew.
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There will be 16 propane heaters, a visit from Santa Claus who will be accepting children’s letters to Santa in self-addressed stamped envelopes so that he can send them a response.
Music will be by DJ Rico and there will be food trucks and an inflatable photo booth shaped like an igloo, Alamogordo City Program Manager Kerry Uribe said.
A change from last year is a gingerbread house decorating relay. Last year, they held an Ugly Sweater Contest.
Ten two-person teams will compete in a relay to decorate gingerbread houses. The first-place winner will receive a Visa Gift Card worth $50, second place will receive a $30 Visa Gift Card and third place will receive a $20 Visa Gift Card.
“We’re just trying to switch it up a bit, add a game in there and, hopefully, make it bigger next year,” Uribe said.
For more information about the tree lighting event, call the Alamogordo City Manager’s Office at 575-439-4203.
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Saturday night marks Alamogordo’s annual Parade of Lights put on by the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re just looking forward to seeing everyone come out,” Gill said.
Parade line-up starts at 4 p.m. Saturday on Oregon Avenue. The Parade of Lights starts at 5 p.m. at Oregon Avenue then proceeds down 10th Street to New York Avenue.
This year, the line-up procedure has changed since upwards of 60 floats are expected at this year’s parade.
Line-up will be on both sides of Oregon Avenue with odd numbered floats on the north side and even numbered ones on the south side and all go on single file, Gill said.
“We’re hoping that that will cut down on congestion, of course, our main concern is safety,” Gill said.
The theme of the parade this year is “Songs of the Season” where organizations will choose a song and their floats will be based on that song.
The St. Frances Cabrini Catholic School, formally the Father James B. Hay Catholic School, chose to do their float based on the “Little Drummer Boy” and La Luz will be basing theirs on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”
The Toys for Tots toy train will be a part of the parade with Santa riding on the caboose.
The train is a repurposed flight line from when the 833rd Air Division that was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base from December 1980 until November 1991.
The parade will host a Toys for Tots toy drop-off. If anyone wants to make a toy donation to Toys for Tots, they can bring an unwrapped toy to the parade then Toys for Tots will collect the toy from them while the Toys for Tots train proceeds down the parade route.
Float applications will be accepted up until 5 p.m. today, Dec. 7.
For more information, call the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce at 575-437-6120 or 800-826-0294.
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