Merry Christmas
Every December in Chickasha, Oklahoma, an event known as the Festival of Lights takes place. It is a magnificent event, quite effective in spreading Christmas cheer. I’ve lived in Chickasha for a year, and until a few weeks ago, I had never visited the place. But Christmas is my favorite time of year, so I jumped at the opportunity to help out on one of the nights it was open. A friend of the apartment, a lady named Andrea, had offered me, my roommate Robert, and his girlfriend Becca an opportunity to go spread some Christmas cheer. We all love Andrea to death, so of course, we all jumped at the opportunity.
The night we were going to help out was bitter cold and misty. Robert drove while me and his girlfriend rode shotgun in his tiny Toyota pickup. When we got on to the street where the entrance was at, we saw that traffic was backed up for quite a ways. We drove passed them and into the parking lot. The first thing that caught my eye was the 160-foot-tall Christmas tree. It was a marvelous red, and the mist that had settled upon the town had given the tree a surreal aurora. We made our way across the pond bridge, which was decked in a superb show of white lights. Across the pond, they had several giant snowflakes that cast a beautiful show of lights across the pond.
We finally made our way to the exit of the drive-thru tour. Apparently, somebody else took care of the people who took the 43 acre walk-thru tour. There, we met up at a little stand that was set in between a two-lane street with the lady that was going to help us out. She had a pretty cool setup there: a small shack to keep our surplus, a heater, a donation stand, buckets of candy, and a Christmas light setup that announced in bright green: DONATIONS ACCEPTED! Our jobs were pretty simple. Robert was going to hand out candy to those who drove by us, Becca was going to take donations, and of course, yours truly was going to stand and spread Christmas cheer. Of course, as elated as I was, I took matters into my hands by yelling “Merry Christmas!” and dancing around like a crazy person.
Apparently, Robert and Becca didn’t like my enthusiasm, while the lady we were paired with didn’t know what to think (Apparently, I found out later that she told the entire Chickasha newspaper, and I developed a little fan club). But as the cars drove towards us, they must’ve thought the sight of a 6′4″ beanpole in a trenchcoat jumping around yelling “Merry Christmas!” was something to smile about, and more often than not those who drove towards us to give donations had smiles on their faces, often as large as the one I possessed. In all honesty, I felt like I did a good job spreading some Christmas cheer.
As our shift came to a close, Robert and Becca elected to go home, but not yours truly. I elected to stay for a little bit of the next shift, because face it, I was having too much fun! the lady we were with had offered to drive me home, which I was more than happy to accept. Heck, out of the whole deal, I got all the free hot chocolate I could ask for! When she decided to leave, I was more than happy to go as well, so we left. I would have to say however, the Festival of Lights is the perfect place to go to in your search of Christmas cheer. Take it from me.
Merry Christmas, folks!
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