NOVEMBER 27, 2024 www.wintertexantimes.com 16 WINTER TEXAN TIMES Valley Star AWARDS SHOW F E B 1 2 2 0 2 5 14th Annual Brought to you by Who will be the 2025 Entertainer of the Year? Find out in person at this year’s Valley Star Awards Show SAVE THE DATE Valley Star Awards Show Wednesday, February 12, 2025 Tickets on Sale January 2025 Ballots available January 15, 2025 ? a lot of time on my grandparents farm in McCook, just west of Edinburg. It’s those gatherings I miss the most – with fresh veggies, citrus, and family. I do hope y’all have a great holiday and share some photos and memories with us. As you consider your shopping, if you are a Black Friday shopper, remember to keep in mind that Saturday is Small Business Saturday. We invite you to get out there and support our small businesses and locally owned restaurants – find a new favorite boutique, a golf store, bicycle shop, or deli. This is a time to support your local mom and pop shops, restaurants, and other businesses. Most of our advertisers are small businesses. We fully recommend all our advertisers. We have seen how you support them, and other Valley small businesses, while you are here. Small businesses contributed 55 percent of the total net job creation from 2013 to 2023. According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses are the foundation of our economy, accounting for 99 percent of businesses in the state and employ at least five million working Texans. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!! RAMBLINGS From pg. 1 The tree lighting will be held afterwards at 7 p.m. at Beulah Lee Park where there will be performances, vendors, Santa, and more. The City of La Joya will have their Tree Lighting on Wednesday, December 4, at 6 p.m. at La Joya City Hall. Their Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday, December 7 at 12 p.m. They will celebrate with the parade theme, The Magic of Christmas. It will be held along Leo Avenue. A Christmas Festival will be held after the event at La Joya Lions Municipal Park, 600 Coyote Drive. The City of McAllen will have tree lighting on Friday, November 9 when they light up the South Pole Illuminated Festival at the McAllen Convention Center. Events begin at 5:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets to the events surrounding the festival and find out more information at www.southpoleoftexas.com. McAllen will have their holiday parade on Saturday, December 7 at the McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, 2001 N. Bicentennial Blvd., before heading down its 1.5-mile parade route. You can buy seats in the stadium and enjoy other entertainment by the bands and others, or gets seats along Bicentennial Blvd. You can find out information on the route, seats, special guests, and more at www. mcallenholidayparade.com. There are still more holiday celebrations in cities throughout the Valley. Be sure to read next week’s paper to see where you can find a tree lighting or parade near you. HOLIDAYS From pg. 1 www.toysfortots.org. Both of these organizations have year-round outreach you can be a part of, but they do special things for the holidays. And don’t forget to check in with your local food bank or the Rio Grande Valley Food Bank. Visit their websites to find out how you can make some children happy this season. Another great resource to find out where you can serve, is www. justserve.org. On this website, you can search your city and find organizations near you that need an extra hand this season. Searching up McAllen, 16 results come up. Those include Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization that delivers beds to needy families; Mercy Chefs at FUMC need help preparing 2,400 meals per day; Mujeres Unidas ongoing cleaning effort; hurricane relief efforts; helping refugees; making blankets; building wheelchair ramps; and several more. Another big one this season, that you can go online to help, or take a drive to San Antonio (and check out the Christmas Lights and the Missions while you are there), is the Light the World Giving Machine. You can share the Christmas spirit by visiting the Giving Machine now through December 8 at the Historic Pearl, 312 Pearl Parkway. Every dollar you donate goes directly to help people in need. What’s really neat about this machine is that you can donate specific items that are needed. There are cards in the machine, just like you would have in any vending machine, and it drops to the bottom when you purchase it. Last year, $107k was donated to local charities. Some of the items you can donate include hygiene kits, developmental toys, or even a goat. San Antonio charities include the Food Bank, Wish for Our Heroes, Alamo Head Injury Association, Vibrant Works, and Catholic Charities of San Antonio. You can find out more about The Giving Machine by visiting www.TexasGivingMachine.org. There are other locations throughout Texas you can choose from if you are doing any traveling to see Christmas lights and festivities. GIVING From pg. 6 This week you will find the last of our three part series of information about some favorite holes to play at golf courses throughout the Valley. Be sure to fill out the golf ballot and send it in, or fill out our online version at www.wintertexantimes. com, by December 4. FAVORITES From pg. 1
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