By Heather Wood Chapman

Can you believe it? We are already into the month of giving and what better way to celebrate than with a Friendsgiving Paint & Sip! Grab your besties or make some new ones at our Friendsgiving Paint & Sip event at the Kernersville Community Recreation Center for a step-by-step paint lesson taught by our friends Clink & Paint. Give thanks with your own masterpiece or gift it to someone during the upcoming holiday season. With your ticket purchase enjoy a customized sharable charcuterie board and sparkling cider. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 16 from 6:00-7:30PM. All supplies are included. For full details and to register visit www.kvparks.com.

If you want to find the true heart of the holiday season, just step into a small town. Small towns celebrate the season in beautiful and timeless ways. It is a sight to behold and if you are lucky, you may even run into a group of carolers! Kernersville is simply magical at Christmas, where at every corner you will witness a symbol of the season.

In addition to beautiful Christmas lights lining our Main Street in Kernersville, you will find an abundance of holiday cheer and community. We are especially excited for the Kernersville Christmas Tree Lighting!

The holiday joy begins at 6PM on Saturday, December 3 in Harmon Park. While in the park, enjoy the sounds of Christmas carols while drinking hot chocolate, graciously provided by Pierce Jefferson Funeral Home. Be sure to capture the night by taking a picture at our Christmas photo station!

Kids are invited to come early to make a special treat for Santa and his reindeer! Be one of the first 100 people to receive a holiday goodie bag, donated by The Summit Church.

Don’t be late…you won’t want to miss Santa and Mrs. Claus riding in on the carriage to come and light the tree.

We know you want to make the holidays an exciting time for your kids and we are here to help! Kernersville Parks and Recreation is opening a line of communication between local kids and the North Pole. Have your children write a letter to Santa Claus, between Monday, November 21 – Friday, December 9, and in a few weeks, they will receive a letter from him in return! There will be a mailbox for your child to drop off their letter to Santa located at the Leo Burke Memorial Gazebo in Harmon Park. Please be sure to include a self-addressed envelope with the letter, so Santa knows who he is writing back to! We also recommend that siblings paperclip their letters together, so they stay together after being dropped in the mailbox – this helps the elves organize the letters for Santa so he knows when he is writing to the same address.

Throughout the holiday months, you can find our downtown bustling with holiday activity from Santa visits, local boutique shopping, ice skating, the Christmas parade, and who knows, you might even witness a marriage proposal under all the blinking lights.

Our fall programs are underway and you still have time to register. Check out our “daily” programs and give one of them a try. This offers you or your child an opportunity to try out a class and gain more knowledge of what we have that you may be interested in.

This is one of the busiest times of the year, but it is also a time to remind ourselves how fortunate we are and thankful for those that we hold dear to us.