Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
In the midst of a pandemic lockdown, local Christmas activities will be scarce this holiday season. And much like many other activities in 2020, the few holiday activities still taking place will look different this year.
Both the Clovis and Portales communities have decided to carry through with their Christmas light parades, but with one slight difference — attendees will be the ones moving while the Christmas floats remain stationary.
“We're trying to preserve the parade and little miss merry christmas, but we obviously won't have the same stuff we've had in the past, such as the choirs and so on,” said Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry.
Portales' light parade will be 6-7 p.m. Friday and will begin at Abilene and Third streets and go down to City Park, winding around the park, according to Terry, who said people still have an opportunity to enter a float and can contact him at 575-309-7541.
Main Street in Clovis will close at 5 p.m. Saturday for the Clovis parade, according to Clovis MainStreet Lisa Pellegrino-Spear, who said the Clovis parade will be 6-8 p.m. and will line the center of Main Street with a southbound entrance on 14th Street and a northbound entrance on Grand Avenue.
“We just wanted to bring the Christmas spirit and bring people together to celebrate the Christmas holiday on a year when we need it the most,” said Pellegrino-Spear.
She said the parade entry form is on their Facebook page and entries can be emailed to [email protected] and will be accepted until Thursday.
The Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce's annual tradition of little miss merry christmas is also on this year but being held in a virtual format. The event entails girls between the ages of 5 and 10 raising funds for Christmas lights and decorations on the Portales town square.
This year's contestants are Emma Gonzales, 6; Citlaly Landeros, 7; and Lilliana Smith, 9. The contest runs through Wednesday with the winner being crowned virtually on the chamber's Facebook page prior to the Christmas parade.
Former Portales resident Andy Mason, who currently lives in Santa Fe, isn't letting go of his Christmas concert tradition either.
Mason said rather than traveling to different communities around New Mexico to perform his History of Christmas music concert, he is simply scheduling with different entities around the state to perform it live on their Facebook pages.
“I've been doing this program for more than 10 years,” said Mason. “It's a journey through the actual history of Christmas. For example, do you know how ‘Jingle Bells’ came about and who wrote it? It's over 150 years old. It wasn't meant to be a Christmas song, but it's since become this very perennial Christmas song.”
“Basically, what I do is I present the information and the history, then we sing the songs together,” added Mason. “Obviously, this year, it's going to be different; it will be virtual. It's just a really fun way to learn about where these songs come from and to learn them. This time of year has always been a time of people coming together and singing and celebrating, and this just continues that tradition.”
Mason said he has already scheduled a performance with Cannon Air Force Base on Dec. 18 that can be watched on the base’s Facebook page, Cannon Commandos, and he is trying to schedule with the Clovis and Portales libraries and the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce.
“It's a really good way, I think, whether it's live or virtual, to forget about some of the things that are going on in the world for an hour,” said Mason. “Come join and sing along and immerse yourself into something that is interesting and fun and has a community spirit about it.”
