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Christmas is less than a month away, and Parkville is gearing up for the holiday with its annual Christmas on the River celebration to officially start the season.

Christmas on the River, now in its 17th year, is an event put on by the Parkville Community Development Corp. to promote tourism and kick off the holiday shopping season in downtown Parkville, said Tom Hutsler, co-chair of the event.

“This event really is the beginning of our Christmas season in Parkville,” he said. “It’s a way for us to highlight the shops and restaurants downtown.”

Hutsler said he expects a crowd of about 10,000 people from all over the Kansas City area for the event Dec. 4.

“We get a lot of Northlanders, and we draw some from out south, too,” he said. “The majority of the crowd will be from the Northland, but we get a great cross-section of the Northland with a small percentage from down south who want to enjoy the small-town Christmas spirit.”

The event begins with entertainment at 6 p.m. in the Parkville city parking lot next to English Landing Park, including dancing and vocal performances as well as a 1,000 voice choir with students from the Park Hill School District.

After the entertainment portion, the official downtown lighting ceremony will begin around 7:30 p.m., followed by a visit from Santa, wagon rides in the park and fireworks around 8:30 p.m.

In addition to the event’s festivities, there will also be food vendors on hand, and Hutsler said most of the shops in downtown Parkville will stay open until at least 8 p.m. so visitors can shop during the event. Most of the restaurants, Hutsler said, will also be open later than usual.

Deborah Butcher, another co-chair of Christmas on the River, said the event provides an economic boost for the downtown area and aims to get people interested in Parkville’s shops and restaurants before Christmas.

“We find that when thousands of people are in town, our restaurants are usually packed with a lot of people,” she said. “They don’t go to the shops and purchase a lot because they don’t want to carry it around at the festival, but they see the shops, and it brings them back.”

But, even if you’ve done all your holiday shopping already, Christmas on the River is still a fun way to spend an evening.

“This festival brings everyone together, and it’s really a great way to kick off the holiday season,” Butcher said. “It’s a good family event, and there is something for everyone.”

Christmas on the River is a free event, and some transportation will be provided in the form of three free shuttles running from 5:45 to 11 p.m. at Park University, the Platte County Community Center South and the Park Hill South High School.

For more information about the event, visit www.parkvillemo.org.

Staff writer Michael Westblade can be reached at 389-6636 or michaelwestblade@npgco.

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written by Kosher Supplements, December 08, 2009

Yes! Christmas is less than a month away.As i can see people are very excited and they are eager to experience the special day.





Kosher Supplements

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