Staff photo.
The Christmas Village opens at 9 a.m., Dec. 17, about an hour before the annual Christmas Parade starts, and is at the end of the parade route — in the open land near U.S. 280 and County Road 47 behind the Dairy Queen.
The city of Chelsea is once again preparing for the holiday spirit to roll through town. On Dec. 17, Chelsea will host its 17th annual Christmas Parade, and the Yellowleaf Homeowners Association will host its annual Christmas Village.
The parade will start at 10 a.m. at Chelsea Middle School and end in the Winn Dixie parking lot. Tiffany Bittner, one of the new Chelsea City Council members, will emcee the parade.
“It’s a great family tradition,” said Chelsea GIS Coordinator Gerri Roberts. “We have a lot of families that do it year after year.”
There will also be time to visit with and take pictures with Santa at the Chelsea Community Center on the day of the parade.
The Christmas Village opens at 9 a.m., about an hour before the parade starts, and is at the end of the parade route — in the open land near U.S. 280 and County Road 47 behind the Dairy Queen.
Sally Kelley, Yellowleaf’s HOA secretary, said she encourages everyone to stop by and enjoy the Christmas spirit.
“We’re at the end of the Christmas parade route, so they can continue their festivities for the day by walking through the Christmas Village,” Kelley said.
Whether people want a cup of hot chocolate or to buy some holiday sweets, stocking stuffers, games or arts and crafts, the Christmas Village will have a variety of vendors.
“Every vendor that has signed up so far is a new vendor,” Kelley said, adding that this year there will be vendors from surrounding cities, including Helena and Sylacauga, while previous Christmas Villages have mainly had Chelsea vendors.
The Christmas Village serves as Yellowleaf HOA’s main fundraiser for the Dogwood Creek Park, a rustic park in their neighborhood.
Yellowleaf collects minimal HOA fees, Kelley said, and those go toward streetlights or landscaping in the subdivision, so they rely on money raised at the Chelsea Christmas Village to maintain the park.
For more information on the Chelsea Christmas Village, go to yellowleafhoa.com/Christmas-village-2016.html. For more information about the parade, go to cityofchelsea.com.
