Last week we had some controversy over the location of Santa’s
arrival this year. As some may know this
was moved to the courthouse steps after many years of being held at the corner
of State Street and Jackson (Spasso’s).
A few approached me who were suspicious this may have been Spasso’s decision
to not hold this at their location, though I’ve not heard anything that would
lead me to believe that was the case. As
I’ve told many who have asked, I believe the decision was made to move the
location to safely accommodate the most people.
As expected, there is always feedback on these things regarding
a change to either the time, production or location. I won’t go through all of them but the two
popular items entailed the location and the production of the event. Some people liked the location, a few thought
it should have been moved closer to State St and Veteran’s Square and others
wish it was back on State Street. I
think there may be some value at moving it closer to State Street by setting up
a stage on Veterans Square by Jasper St.
Perhaps have Santa enter either in front or behind the stage while
arriving and leaving via Jasper St. That
way you are closer to the business district and can see the Christmas lights;
while better managing the crowd.
As for the production of the event, I thought the courthouse
columns looked great. However, I did
hear there was some confusion over the arrival of Santa and the route in which
he was coming in on. I understand the
power was lost momentarily which also through things off a bit. I know people weren’t happy about that, but items
I’m sure will get worked out by next year.
If you have further constructive feedback, let’s hear it as
it’ll help the people that run this event.
The best was the countdown, where they did the countdown, hit the switch, and McMahon stated 'Well, when you go back to State Street, you'll see the lights are on!"
ReplyDeleteLook, I can admit that the courthouse is a better location than 1 W. State St - more room, much bigger historical significance, etc. But if they're going to host Santa's arrival and State Street Lighting here, I think the lights need to be extended to Veterans Square and especially the courthouse for the proper effect.
If you can't see the lights go on, it may as well be held at Rose Tree Park. At least they'll do it right
ReplyDeleteMy familiy waited over an hour...Santa went by on a fire truck and it was over...not worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteThat's all he has ever done, but in years past he would drive state street one lap so everyone could see the fire truck, then come back around and park at what is now Spassos. Then he would get off the fire truck , go up the steps and light up State St. However, the past cou,e years someone had the bright idea to stop the lap on state stree, so unless you were in the front at Sapssos, you couldn't even see Santa. Not sure why you mess with something that worked in previous years, but this year was a bust, I agree with Steve, what a disappointment when the countdown led to nothing. My 8 year old was confused
DeleteYeah this was a lame event. Waited over an hour for nothing. Kids were confused and disappointed. This event needs work man.
ReplyDelete