You can visit holiday themed sandcastles at South Padre Island. The sandcastles are an ongoing thing and this year the sculptors have worked hard to get things done. The Christmas village is currently open for visitors.
The Christmas Extravaganza is now on display at Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum featuring the creative ways people decorate Christmas trees. The exhibit runs through December 31.
The trails of Quinta Mazatlán in McAllen will be lined with thousands of candle luminarias to celebrate the winter holidays around the world. Presented by SpawGlass, ILLUMINA Fest 2020 takes place on December 16, 17, 18, and 19 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets go fast and can only be purchased online at www.ticketleap.com, search for Quinta Mazatlán.
The Rio Grande Valley supports two chapters of Texas Master Naturalist and both chapters are taking applications for the new class training that will begin January 7. The deadline to register is December 18.
Read more: Texas Master Naturalist Training registration open
The Edinburg Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the City of Edinburg and Edinburg EDC presents the inaugural Holiday in the Park. This holiday season, Edinburg Municipal Park will be transformed into a drive-thru wonderland. Thousands of twinkling lights will be on display from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. starting December 12 through January 2, 2021.
The festive event will be free to the public and will be open for a total of 22 nights to enjoy approximately one mile of themed entertainment. The Holiday in the Park event will be held in place of the annual Night of Lights Parade
The City of Alamo will be holding a parade this coming weekend. Alamo is “Lighting Our Way into 2021” and is asking residents and businesses to join in the fun. They are asking for participants to string lights on your home, vehicles, furniture or anything you want to light up to help be seen. Show off your creativity and then join the lighted caravan event.
This time of year always brings a spirit of Thanksgiving, We continue in this spirit even after the holiday of Thanksgiving, well into the Christmas season. My church leaders invited members to give thanks during the week leading up to Thanksgiving. We were invited to share what we were thankful for on social media platforms. You may have noticed a few #GiveThanks tags this past week.
It was a week filled with many things to be thankful for and a time to reflect on what we are truly grateful for in our lives. Seeing others that posted their “Give Thanks” made me see even more things in my life that I could be thankful for. It was a very rewarding experience.
The Valley Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce that its annual holiday concert A Touch of Frost will continue in 2020 amidst restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Symphony will provide three ways for patrons in the Rio Grande Valley and beyond to enjoy this holiday tradition, made possible through support from Exclusive Concert Sponsor Frost and more.
This past week, Olga Papp of Lone Star National Bank, on South Padre Island, was excited to accept a pickup load of grocery items donated by Winter Texans Jean and Steve Fisher of Iowa. The bank is helping with a food drive for the food bank. The donated grocery items will be taken to Pharr where bank employees will continue to volunteer by helping to sort and distribute the food to needy families in the Rio Grande Valley. This is the Fisher’s third year visiting the Valley and each year they have found at least one organization to support. Their first year they donated nearly $5000 of stuffed animals to Sunny Glen Children’s Orphanage. Last year, they donated over $10,000 in Christmas presents, clothes and other items to over 30 children in Cameron County. When asked by the bank manager, Martin Infante, why they were generous with their donation, Jean said it is because they have been blessed and enjoy giving back. When we did a story on them last year, we learned Jean grew up in foster homes and has a connection with how hard it can be this time of the year. Both have worked hard to get where they are today and feel they are blessed with everything they have. They have made the choice to give back like this at least once a year to share their blessing with others. Last year Jean said, they were not in it for the glory, “It is not about the giving or the getting, it is letting them know that someone cares.”
The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the City of Mission and Mission Regional Medical Center to host its 26th Annual Mission Community Health & Wellness Fair. This year’s event will be a two-day event that will be held at the Mission Event Center on Thursday, December 3, 2020, and Friday, December 4, 2020, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free, open to the public, and will provide free comprehensive blood screenings, awareness, and education.
