Eagerly rushing to the winter-decorated black mailbox Friday night, brother and sister Daphne and Logan Silkwood dropped their letters to Santa inside.
"I asked for unicorn stuff," 7-year-old Daphne said with a grin, hugging her mother, Cathryn Johnson, while gazing at the mailbox. With Christmas lights blinking around his neck, 8-year-old Logan said he is hoping for Pokemon cards.
This was the family's first time at the annual Downtown Living Windows, which celebrated its 30th anniversary Friday.
"I've never been but I've heard about it every year, and I just like to take them to do things that are fun and kid-friendly, which there's not a whole lot. But around the Christmas season, there's always something to do," Johnson said.
Jefferson City residents and visitors packed the downtown streets during the free event, watching as storefronts and windows came to life with dancers, singers and holiday themes. Along with various entertainers and refreshments, guests wrote letters to and visited with Santa Claus, pet reindeer, walked through a candy cane house, and rode hayrides, carriage rides and a Polar Express.
More than two dozen businesses, churches and other entities participated in the annual event, organized by the Downtown Jefferson City Association.
With a performer in his store's window, Samuel's Tuxedo and Gifts owner Sam Bushman was one of the founders of Living Windows. He said he was amazed how much the event has grown over the last three decades.
"Everything's free and you can bring your family down here and go to the Hawthorn Bank and see Santa Claus and get a Hershey bar," Bushman said. "You can go over to Central Bank and get cider and cookies. You can go to the Governor's Mansion and meet the governor. Nobody else can do that, so this is just a wonderful, magical evening."
Living Windows chairwoman Tricia Workman said the association's goal has always been to provide a free, family-friendly activity to kick-off the holiday season.
Jefferson City resident Nick Sankpill said he has been attending Living Windows almost since the beginning, remembering when his father took him to the event when he was about 4 years old. Standing outside the Cole County Courthouse, he watched his daughters walk through the candy cane house and gaze at the nearby carolers.
"The thing I like about the events in Jeff City is we're just such a small town and I like that we can bring kids to stuff like this," he said. "I love how they put events on that's actually kid-friendly, so I love bringing them to these things."