High Springs rings in holiday season

CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

Children sat on Santa's lap and brought him cookies to snack on.

HIGH SPRINGS – Lights, music and art brought an air of festivity to the town of High Springs last week.

The annual Christmas-tree lighting was held on Friday, Nov. 22 in High Springs.

The event, located near the railroad tracks, had Christmas music, lights and refreshments, started off at 6 p.m. and went until 7:30 p.m.

New mayor, Byran D. Williams, opened the lighting of the 8-foot tall Christmas tree with a short speech thanking the Chamber of Commerce.

When the lights went on, parents and children began to gravitate toward the food and drink stands, but some children were more interested in meeting Santa Claus.

“What did you bring me?” asked Lance Lounsbury, playing the part of Santa, as three children brought him cookies.  

One of the stands offering refreshments such as cookies, hot chocolate and pigs in a blanket was managed by the Coffee Clutch Cafe, who also participated in the Art Walk that was held at the same time.

Jesse Lounsbury, son of Lance, ran the table for the Coffee Clutch Cafe to help his mother, the owner of the cafe, Nancy Lounsbury.

“We got the opportunity to come out and have fun,” Jesse Lounsbury said.

Children also had an opportunity to make Christmas-tree decorations. The ornament station was laid out on the ground with paint, glue and glitter gave kids the chance to dig down deep and bring out their inner Picasso by decorating their own leaf ornaments.

The High springs Community School participated in the lighting. The school sat with their table on the back of the lot selling cookies, cupcakes and other baked goods to raise money for the school’s safety patrols.

One parent, Jackie Helton, brought her children for the first time to the event and said that the tree lighting was a great experience for her kids. She said she looks forward to coming back next year.

Volunteer DJ Michael Loveday said that the audience for this year’s lighting had grown significantly since last year.

“There are about 50 percent more people showing up,” Loveday said.

The event began to clear out around 6:30 p.m. when the art walk started, which had various businesses displaying photos, paintings and sculptures by local artists.

Each of the businesses hosting the walk offered food and wine to enjoy while browsing the art collections.

One artist, Linda Tiffany, brought out her photography from the Ponce de Leon exhibit. The retired art teacher said she used to be predominantly a painter, but since teaching children she has had to ease back into it.

“I’m finally getting back to some of my artwork again,” Tiffany said. “I’ve got some paintings going, but I didn’t have them done in time.”

Larry Behnke, a member of the Art Co-op and one of the artists on display during the art walk, said the event was great for both local artists and businesses because it gives people the opportunity to notice places that they wouldn’t usually see.

“The fun part is that there are 15 other artists around town, and in High Springs most of the businesses close at 5 p.m.,” Behnke said. “This allows them to stay open at night and people come downtown and say ‘oh I didn’t know this shop was here,’ and so this is getting the public out to see not only different artists, but different businesses in the town.”

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