After weeks of speculation, light has finally been shed on what those pink ribbons around the oak trees down Grand Boulevard meant.
The city of Greenwood and Main Street Greenwood are planning an illuminated Christmas light trail along that scenic street and through downtown to celebrate the holiday season.
Brantley Snipes, director of Main Street Greenwood, announced Monday night at a meeting of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau board that this is a plan to help promote tourism and business in the city.
“We need a leg up in the competition of Christmas lights and in Christmas attractions to pull people who are not necessarily from Greenwood into Greenwood,” Snipes said.
The idea, she explained, is to utilize much of what the city already does to celebrate the holiday season “instead of bringing in lighted nutcrackers.”
“The city has already done a great job getting wreaths on the lights down Rail Spike Park and the new lighted snowflakes going out to the underpass as well as banners and other Christmas lighted stuff,” she said.
Snipes said the plan is to connect all the various holiday sights throughout the city to create a trail of electric lights. She said she believes this is a safe option during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tentative dates for the trail are from Nov. 27 to Jan. 10.
It will start at the corner of Park Avenue and Grand Boulevard and continue over Keesler Bridge and left onto Front Street. It will then move down Howard Street and through Rail Spike Park, take a left on Johnson Street and proceed onto Main Street.
She also said there is a plan to incorporate a local holiday radio station into the ride.
Snipes said she hopes this will be a successful first step of a new tradition and will lead to the creation of a larger regional Christmas light trail in the coming years.
Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams, who was also present at the board meeting, said she loved the plan.
“When Brantley came into my office and told me of this idea, I said, ‘This is perfect,’” she told the board. “This year has been awful at best, and we have lost a lot of things we would normally be doing.”
McAdams mentioned that the annual Roy Martin Delta Band Festival and Christmas Parade will be altered to meet COVID-19 safety measures.
“Although we will be having something of a parade, it will just be different,” the mayor said.
The parade, a beloved holiday tradition for the city, is sponsored by the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce.
Beth Stevens, executive director of the chamber, was expected to meet with the parade committee Wednesday to figure out a plan for this year’s event.
“The parade will not look like a regular parade, but it will still honor our tradition,” she said.
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. Twitter: @AdamBakst_GWCW
