Riding a horse-drawn carriage through candlelit streets. Sipping hot chocolate while a band plays Christmas music. Strolling through the shops of the main street, picking out gifts. Building a gingerbread house, watching an ice sculptor, laughing with friends. Or even visiting with Santa Claus! The holiday season in Wyoming is like your favorite Christmas carols brought to life, all in one day.
Light Up Wyoming
As the sun sets on Saturday, December 10, candles will be lit all over town as Light Up Wyoming begins. For 30 years now the Junior Women’s Club of Wyoming has organized this event, selling luminaria kits with the goal of creating an “unbroken circle of light” throughout the city. The glowing white bags line yards, driveways and sidewalks in a lovely display of unity, and best of all, the money raised from the sale of the kits goes right back into the community.
Founded in 1948, the JWC works to improve Wyoming and the surrounding area through volunteer and fundraising activities, and Light Up Wyoming is one of the primary club activities. The money raised from the luminaria kits helps organizations such as Valley Interfaith Clothing and Food Center, Wyoming Youth Services, Relay For Life, Friends of the Public Library, Mill Creek Clean Up and many more. Each kit costs $15 and includes enough supplies for 20 luminaria, and when they are lit, the ranks of light stretching along the streets transform Wyoming into a fairy-tale scene.
Holiday Celebration
Starting at 6 p.m., with the lights aglow, many folks head to the center of Wyoming to meet friends and enjoy the festivities. The shops along Wyoming Avenue will be open for shoppers to browse and find treasures; outside, an ice sculptor creates fantastic works of art on the spot. Food and refreshments are available, and Santa Claus holds court in the gazebo, taking requests for the big day. Just up the street, families line up to take a horse-drawn carriage ride through the sparkling streets to the Civic Center.
Here, local bands play holiday favorites and carriage riders warm up with hot chocolate and desserts. Inside, kids and parents build and decorate gingerbread houses; kits are only $10. The holiday celebration and Light Up Wyoming both run from 6 – 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 10. To get your own luminaria kit, visit the JWC website.
