All photos by Jamie Nygaard
Yes, Bluffton loves a parade. This year's Blaze of Lights parade on Nov. 24 is one of the favorites. This year's parade, with temperatures hovering in the high 40s, drew an exceptionally large crowd.
Bill and Phyllis Marchal, owners of Bluffton Dari Freeze, were this year's parade grand marshals. Dr. Jane Wood, president of Bluffton University, was this year's switch-hitter, turning on the Ream lights.
For 32 years, the residents of Bluffton have held a celebration known as the Blaze of Lights, which includes a holiday parade, live entertainment, festive family activities, and the lighting of the Ream folk art display.
This year, the event is on Saturday, Nov. 24, when thousands of people will come to enjoy a warm, homestyle Christmas celebration.
"You know when the OSU football game is over," notes chamber CEO Paula Scott; "Suddenly, Main Street is swarmed with people exploring and finding their spots for the parade. It's a great place to meet family and friends.”
If “It’s A Wonderful Life” is one of your all-time favorite Christmas movies, you are in luck.
Bluffton Icon will sponsor two free showings of the 1946 classic featuring the all-star cast of James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore on Friday, Nov. 23, at the Shannon Theatre.
The free showings are at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and are part of this year’s Blaze of Lights event.
Nominate Bluffton greatest musician!
Icon viewers have the opportunity to nominate Bluffton’s greatest musician during the holiday season.
The Bluffton Community Assistance Program is busy at this time of year. Here’s a chat the Icon had with Jami Crawfis, who directs the program's food pantry.
Jami, are there families in the service area of the food pantry in need of assistance at Christmas?
In all, we have 68 families already adopted. We have six individuals still to adopt.
The adopting families will provide fresh, frozen and/or canned food items (or even gift cards to a grocery store) for each family as well as gifts from their wish list.
