Christmas Celebrations and Festivals in Small Town USA
Small Town Christmas
I grew up in Bassett Nebraska. My town was too small to have a parade for Christmas. With about 700 people in town there just weren't enough people to make a parade. That didn't take away from our town decorating. We had the generic light pole decorations. Candles, trees, stars, and and wreathes that sparkled with little Christmas lights on the light poles. Around the first of December the big green wreath that read "Merry Christmas" would get hung up at beginning of main street. This was the only thing above this street besides the one stop light at the intersection. The one intersection.At nighttime, everything lit up and when it was flaked with snow, it was even more beautiful than normal.
About a week before Christmas we'd go to the town just west down the highway. It had about 1,400 people in it, therefor warranted a Christmas parade. Santa clause would be the final one in the parade riding on top of a firetruck. Before Santa always came a few flatbed trailers with snowmen and reindeer on them. Santa's tuck was always the best though. His truck would be blaring "Here Comes Santa Clause". After Santa rode down mainstreet, which took about three to four minutes, he would sit in his little booth and kids would get to tell him what they wanted. After waiting in line for about twenty minutes, talking to the big guy for about a minute, and getting some hot chocolate, we would head home. It was a twenty minute drive from Ainsworth to Bassett, but it was totally worth it.
Even though there was a lack of a parade in my town, there was never a lack of snow. It was always beautiful in my town in wintertime. Snow would blow and get stuck on all of the signs, light pole ornaments, and the houses. All of the blowing white powder was beautiful. Even though I somewhat took it for granted at the time, I now realize that Christmas in a small town was the most beautiful time of the year.
