Christmas in Crockett Deemed a Success

Large Crowd, Great Weather Greets Event

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – It’s always a roll of the dice when it comes to the weather and Christmas in Crockett. After good weather in 2018, the forecast went back and forth but when Saturday, Nov. 23 dawned, the weather was spectacular for the Saturday showcase. 

Despite an early morning chill, the air was quickly filled with the smells of kettle corn, roasting turkey legs and homemade root beer as visitors from all over East Texas strolled the streets surrounding the courthouse square. Vendors plied their wares with everything from wooden roses, soy candles and mushroom growing kits to clothing, leather goods and bird houses, with everything in between.

With over 260 arts and crafts booths, along with food vendors, kids’ activities and new areas to fill, the initial registration indicated one of the bigger turnouts for the annual event.

Dan Huggins, the Executive Director of the Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce, spoke about the event after its conclusion.

“I don’t often use the word perfect, but it was pretty close to perfect. Perfect weather, a perfect number of vendors – it just couldn’t have been any better. We had 267 vendors, which if it’s not a record, it’s pretty close to one,” Huggins said.

“The crowd was also incredible,” he continued. “Last year’s (crowd) was great and this year’s was even better. We talked to a number of people and they have been very complimentary of how everything went – how it was run and how it was organized.” 

Having said that, Huggins cautioned there were some things the chamber saw it needed to improve on and indicated the chamber board was meeting early Tuesday afternoon to discuss what went well and what could be tweaked for next year’s event.

“Overall, from my perspective, it couldn’t have been much better. We appreciate everyone’s support. We had a number of volunteers who helped along with some students from Crockett High School who came and spent all day with us. That was the first time I remember having high school kids helping out. They came and helped with traffic and various other things,” he said.

As far as the set up in the new City Park, Huggins said it went very well but added he would like to see the area grow because he feels there is more which could be done. He went on to say anytime you do something for the first time, there are always things you can look back on and see what could be done better.   

“We are going to continue that and try and get more people down there. The traffic flow wasn’t as much as we would have liked, but being new, we kind of expected that. It is something we want to grow. There are a few more activities we would like to add. This will definitely be an area we are looking at in coming years,” he said.

Concerning next year’s event, Huggins said, “If the vendors want to be a part of a very successful, long running event – this was our 38th one – if they want to be part of 39, they need to go ahead and get registered early. Honestly, I have already had three people pay for 2020. They were so impressed with everything.”

Plans are already underway for the 2020 Christmas in Crockett event. For more information, please contact the Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce at 936-544-2359.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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