Polk County
Living
Photos by Lukas
Eggen, Jolene
Guzman and Emily
Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Com-
munities throughout Polk
County rang in the Christ-
mas season Friday and Sat-
urday with visits from Santa,
candy canes, hot cocoa,
Christmas carols and
lights — lots of lights.
The 49th annual Mon-
mouth Tree Lighting includ-
ed performances from ele-
mentary school choirs, as
well as arts and crafts, host-
ed by the Western Oregon
University athletics depart-
ment.
A parade kicked off the
festivities, with free hot
chocolate and candy canes
handed out at Western Ore-
gon University.
After the tree was lit,
Santa was in the house for
photos with plenty of color-
ing and live performances to
keep the mood festive.
Celebrations at Dallas’
Winterfest had children —
and their parents — lined up
for hours to have their secret
wishes heard by Santa Claus.
The event included a variety
of food trucks and holiday
vendors with crafts to sell on
the Polk County Courthouse
lawn.
Santa arrived via Dallas
Fire & EMS fire engine right
on time. His tree lighting du-
ties were doubled this year
as the city of Dallas brought
in a second tree on the side-
walk in front of the Polk
County Courthouse for the
first time.
After lighting the trees,
Santa sat down for his
biggest responsibility of all:
hearing the Christmas pres-
e n t h o p e s o f Da l l a s’
youngest residents.
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 7, 2016 10A
In Independence, the
Santa Train attendance was
record-breaking, with chil-
dren lined up so far, Santa
decided to stay more than
two hours beyond his sched-
uled 1 to 3 p.m. so he could
hear all the wishes of the
boys and girls.
An epic Parade of Lights
headed down Monmouth
Avenue — 15 floats, includ-
ing horses, emergency vehi-
cles, and an appearance by
St. Nick.
The open house that fol-
lows the parade was moved
downtown from the Inde-
pendence Civic Center, and
was hosted by Sojourn Inter-
national. Attendees could
warm up from the cold
night, get to know each
other and enjoy cookies, hot
cocoa and cider.
The weekend was a won-
derful way for all to gather
together and kick off the
spirit of the season.
Mackenzie Welker, four, gets a little help from Tyler Welker with coloring Friday night
during Western Oregon’s Holiday Tree Lighting celebration.
One of 15 glowing entries in Independence’s Parade of Lights that made its way down Monmouth Avenue Saturday night, helping kick off the Christmas season.
Hailey Soukup, 5, shares what she wants for Christmas with Santa on Friday during
Western Oregon University’s 49th annual Holiday Tree Lighting celebration.
Good little boys and girls had plenty of time to contemplate what they wanted to ask
Santa for while waiting in line at Winterfest in Dallas on Friday night.
Maxx and Gauge Michaelson, both 2, weren’t so sure they wanted to meet Santa on Fri-
day night at Winterfest in Dallas. They were brave enough to pose for a photo, though.