ALPINE — A schedule of activities to observe Christmas in Alpine has been cut way back from activities in years past because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the annual parade still will be on the schedule and a new scavenger hunt has been added.
Many other activities like the traditional lighting of the Christmas tree at the Brewster County Courthouse, visits with Santa and others have been canceled, at least for this year.
The holiday sale known in the past as Mountain Country Christmas has moved from the Civic Center to Cowboy Church east of the city.
Instead of a multi-agency committee that participated last year, the Alpine Downtown Association and the city of Alpine are coordinating on the parade and the scavenger hunt, the latter an idea proposed by this year’s ADA Christmas Committee Chair Heather Yadon, manager of the Alpine Visitor Center.
“The ‘Home for the Holidays’ parade will be held on Saturday, December 5, at 6 p.m.” Yadon said. “We would love to see all our local businesses and organizations enter a float, decorated vehicle or walk in the parade.”
To register for the parade, contact Yadon at visitorcenter@visitalpinetx.com or call 432-837-2326.
Alpine Radio will broadcast the parade live again this year and Conley Rasor has prepared a video to be run on Facebook and the Downtown Association’s website and others.
The Starlight Scavenger Hunt will run from December 5 to December 19. Shoppers will get a map of participating businesses and clues will be available at each business in the form of a riddle.
“When they guess the right answer, the store will give them a star sticker on the map,” Yadon said. “When they complete the entire hunt, they can come to the Visitor Center to enter a drawing for a cash prize. The first 40 to complete the scavenger hunt will get an Alpine souvenir prize.”
ADA President Jim Street said with masks and social distancing, the attendance at the parade will not be like past years and anyone with greater concerns will probably just stay home.
“But the scavenger hunt lasts for two weeks and people can come any time, so greater concentrations of people anywhere can likely be avoided,” he said.
