Bright lights, holiday carols, big crowds and plenty of joy abounded Sunday in Evans Towne Center Park as the coming holiday season kicked off with the annual Christmas in Columbia County festival.
Vendors set up shop at 2 p.m. at the park for the Holiday Market while the Christmas Parade commenced at 3:30 p.m. on Evans Towne Center Boulevard.
“Some were here before two o’clock,” said Janet Wheatley, community services programs and events manager, noting the large turnout this year. “And we had over 100 in the parade this year.”
Kids had the opportunity to take pictures with Santa, as well as send letters to Santa, and the Evans on Ice rink was also open for eager ice-skaters.
As evening approached, the elaborate light display shone throughout the park. Sidewalks lined with green, blue and white, with ornate archways illuminated with snowflakes. One archway greeted pedestrians with an inflatable abominable snowman. And among the many light displays were snowmen, the Nativity and even large representations of the 12 Days of Christmas along the greenspace, complete with a partridge in a pear tree with the number one, and drummers drumming next to number 12.
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Holiday Market vendors enjoyed plenty of patronage throughout the day at the park’s greenspace. They were all lined up in neat rows of white tents.
One of the vendors was Jeana Berrios, co-owner of From Us to You. She was selling handcrafted luxury ceramic mugs. Berrios, an Army veteran who came to the Augusta area after being stationed at Fort Gordon, had participated in the Evans Market before, but not the Holiday Market. She notes that the event’s amenities, the lights, the parades and crowds ultimately made for good business.
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“It’s been really good,” said Berrios. “It’s our first time and as a vendor, the biggest thing you want to do is buy back the booth, which we did. The setup, from the vendor’s perspective, was really smooth. We’ve been getting big waves of traffic. The fact that they did it the day that they had all these other events going on and helped us a lot.”
The evening culminated in the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at Lady Antebellum Pavilion. On the stage, host Brandon Dawson introduced the Columbia County Board of Commissioners.
Chairman Doug Duncan praised the county’s progress, mentioning that Evans being named the number one place to live in America in 2020 by Money magazine, despite the COVID-19 pandemic making for a difficult last two years.
“I’m very thankful,” said Duncan. “We’re totally blessed and this going to be the best Christmas season we’ve ever had.”
Duncan then introduced Commissioner Dewey Galeas for the Christmas invocation. After the prayer, Dawson introduced Santa Claus, who was met with cheer from the children in the audience.
After a countdown, the Christmas Tree light display was finally lit, followed by a show of fireworks set alight the sky.
“It was really nice to see so many people from around the area out in full force,” said Dawson, who emceed the event for his second year. “For me, it just seems like the energy is out this year. You saw out there was kids dancing, everybody just seemed to be having a good time. It’s very nice to see so many people out and about, enjoying the Christmas spirit.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
