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Thursday, December 06, 2007 12:46 PM

Richmond, Pomona planning Christmas festivities

By BRIAN WILLIAMS, Herald Staff Writer

Christmas celebrations will continue and begin in two area communities this weekend.

The 2007 Richmond Christmas Festival will be Saturday and the inaugural Pomona Holiday Light Celebration will be Sunday.

This is the seventh year for Richmond’s festival and the second year for a Christmas parade, Connie Weber, an organizer, said.

The parade will begin at 4:30 p.m. downtown and Santa Claus will ride in  fire engine, Weber said.

St. Therese Catholic Church, Westphalia, will celebrate Mass at 5 p.m. and the lighting ceremony will start at 6 p.m. Before the lights come on there will be a prayer and the reading of the Christmas story.

After the tree ceremony, a soup and chili supper will be at the Richmond Community Building, 205 E. Central Ave., for a free-will donation. Santa Claus will be in town with bags of candy for children, Weber said.

Ballots for the Best Lit Business will be at the community building. Winners will be announced after the meal. Winners of the Richmond Public Library Christmas raffle also will be drawn after the meal.

The celebration in Pomona will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday with an appearance from Santa Claus at the Holiday Village, east of Buzzard’s Pizza, 218 E. Franklin St.

The village includes a little building for children to meet with Santa, which will remain on site for future years, Danny Servaes, an organizer, said.

Also in the village are trees, which each business in town has purchased and decorated. After the holiday season all of the trees will be donated to the city and planted in the park to replace trees that had been damaged in past storms, Servaes said.

At 4 p.m. grilled hot dogs, chips, coffee and hot chocolate will be served. The West Franklin High School band will play Christmas music at 4:30 p.m. and the lights will be turned on and the winners of the local business light displays will be announced at 5 p.m.

“We look to expand on it next year and include residential,” Servaes said about the contest.

Servaes said he wasn’t concerned about inclement weather and that everyone should bring their lawn chairs and dress appropriately.

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