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PHOTOS: Holiday Hoopla Welcomes Christmas Spirit to Cedar Falls

Thousands crowded Main Street to get an early view of Santa and listen to holiday songs.

 
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The crowd watched the sky as Santa arrived on a helicopter complete with blinking red and white lights.
Photos (20)

Photos

Bill Brown stands outside of Worlds Window on the second block of Main Street serving hot chocolate.
 The mayor of Hoopville, Dave Schachterle, makes announcements at this year's Holiday Hoopla.
 Organizers (from left to right) Brenda Truelsin, Dave Schachterle, and Penny Sund have put in months of work to pull off Holiday Hoopla.
Jackson White, 7, gets a good view of the Holiday Hoopla show from his father Stephan White's shoulders.
Colby Hawbaker, 4, is dressed in lights to show his Holiday Hoopla spirit.
Rylee Tudor, 4, looks at her Scratch cupcakes. Scratch Cupcakery moved into its new location, 315 Main St., on Friday.

Santa dropped from the sky this year to officially kick-off Christmas on Main Street during the third annual Holiday Hoopla.

The event began Friday with local performers singing Christmas songs and entertaining the large crowd waiting for Santa's arrival. Every year the coordinaters think up a different, creative way for Santa to arrive. This year, his arrival was in a helicopter complete with red and white blinking lights.

"We start working in January for the next year. It's a lot of fun and we need a lot of volunteers and sponsers to pull it off," Carol Lilly, the director of Community Main Street said.

After Santa landed, he and Mrs. Clause were lead by drummers, Joseph Wielinski, 14, and Jarod Smith, 13. They walked halfway across the bridge leading to North Main Street, and the crowd watched as Santa lit the Holiday Hoopla tree and the fireworks show began.

"There are weeks we work 20 to 30 hours on planning Holiday Hoopla," one of the organizers, Amy Rinnels, said. "I love Holiday Hoopla; it's my favorite night of the year."

Related Topics: Community Main Street, Holiday Guide 2011, and Holiday Hoopla

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