With Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror, the Jefferson City community is gearing up for Christmas.
The season officially starts at the end of this week with three days of events.
Thursday is the Jefferson City Mayor's Tree Lighting followed by the governor's tree lighting and Living Windows downtown Friday and the Jaycees Christmas parade Saturday.
The mayor's tree goes up Monday at the end of Bolivar Street, overlooking the Missouri River. Then the decorations come.
The Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department oversees the theme and design for the tree.
This year's theme is a homage to the Roaring '20s and the literary classic "The Great Gatsby."
"We do a lot of fun, whimsical (themes), but we really wanted to class it up," cultural arts specialist Leann Porrello said. "The '20s has been really fun, beautiful colors, and that's kind of what we're going for."
Porrello said the colors are black, white and gold.
The tree is 23 feet tall, requiring 100 to 300 strands of Christmas lights and more than 1,200 ornaments. Staff uses a bucket truck to reach the top for decorations.
Every year, she said, the group in charge of the tree makes a handmade craft for the tree. This year, that element is the tinsel.
"It's little circles out of tinsel and our own garland for the tree," Porrello said. "The mayor is an artist herself, and with being a fellow artist, that was something that I thought was really fun that we could give her on her Christmas tree."
The decorations extend past the tree, she said, but includes the environment, too.
It will include a selfie station, pictures with Santa and food trucks this year.
"We just started food trucks last year and that was kind of a really fun additive where people can come, have hot chocolate," she said. "Every year, we're trying to add a little bit more."
Porrello said she's trying to get a classic 1920s-style car for pictures with Santa.
The tree-lighting event will be 5:30 p.m. Thursday with the tree getting lit at 6:30 p.m. People are encouraged to dress up in 1920s style.
The tree will be up until the new year.
Governor's tree lighting
The governor's trees arrive Monday morning, one for the lawn and one for inside the Governor's Mansion.
The trees will be lit at 6 p.m. Friday by Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Second Lady Claudia Kehoe.
The tree for the mansion's lawn is a 30-foot Norway Spruce donated by Steve and Carla Lieble, of Columbia, according to a press release. The tree for the Mansion interior is a 20-foot Norway spruce supplied by Pea Ridge Forest in Hermann.
The Missouri Department of Conservation will install the indoor tree and the Missouri Office of Administration staff will install the outdoor tree.
The tree lighting is open to the public.
Following the lighting, guests can take a tour of the Governor's Mansion, which will be decorated for the season.
Tours will run 6-8 p.m. Friday and again Dec. 6.
The Candlelight Tours are free and open to the public. Visitors will enter through the Madison Street gate.
Living Windows
After a one-year break, the annual Downtown Living Windows event will return Friday.
Downtown Living Windows brings Christmas to life with living window displays, including favorites like Santa Claus, a nativity scene, musicians and dancers.
Since 1988, the event has drawn thousands of visitors to see the festive performances and decorations. It was originally created by former News Tribune marketing director Beth Chisholm, who was inspired by a similar event in Lebanon, Missouri.
For the annual event, volunteers get paired with local businesses and the two work together on what to do and how to set up the act.
From 6-9 p.m. Friday, the performers will put on their acts along High Street.
Santa Claus, live reindeer, carolers, dancers, puppets and a live nativity will return for the event, which also features carriage rides, contests, food and more.
The event is free.
Jaycees Christmas Parade
The Jefferson City Jaycees Christmas Parade will return to the streets of downtown for the 82nd year Saturday.
The parade's theme is "Christmas through the decades."
"We picked the theme because we have a new generation of Jaycees doing the parade, and we wanted to show people how things change and stay the same through the decades," Christmas Parade Chairwoman Anna Tyler said.
The parade began in 1939 and triggered the formation of the Jefferson City Chapter of the Jaycees, Tyler said.
It will start at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Truman Building. The parade will then travel east along High Street before turning onto Lafayette Street to East Capitol Avenue then back west to the Truman Building.