LOCAL

Calendar of holiday events in the Gainesville area

Staff
A boy rides down the ice slide during the annual Pond Lighting at North Florida Regional Medical Center, in Gainesville on Dec. 1, 2017. [File photo by Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun]

A chill in the air reminds us that the holidays are at our doorstep. Here's an early listing of some of the events to mark on your calendar. 

Dec. 1

Pond Lighting — The duck pond at North Florida Regional Medical Center, 6500 West Newberry Road, will be lit for the first time this season, with festivities from 5-8 p.m. The free event, in its 29th year, is a Gainesville area holiday tradition. This year there will be an array of 95,000 lights around the pond.

Music and performances will be provided by the Sedoctaves, Joni Messler Studio of Dance and Buchholz High School Choir. Activities include sledding on real snow, ornament decorating, face painting, horse-drawn carriage rides, photos with Santa, snowball toss, and penguin bowling.

Thomas Center Tree Lighting — The city of Gainesville will hold its annual Holiday Tree Lighting Celebration at the Historic Thomas Center, 302 NE 6th Ave., from 6-8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Mayor Lauren Poe will welcome guests and light refreshments will be served. Music on hammered dulcimer and autoharp will be provided by Jim and Joyce Lillquist of the Gypsy Guerrilla Band, and carols will be sung by the Singers of the Reformation and the Gainesville Harmony Show Chorus. For more information, call David Ballard at 352-393-8746 or email ballarddg@cityof gainesville.org.

Dec. 2

Homestead Holiday — Historic Haile Homestead, an 1856 plantation home at 8500 SW Archer Road, will be decked out for the holidays in traditional greenery and Victorian finery, with a theme of wild birds. The event, from noon to 4 p.m., is free. Docents in Victorial cosume will be on hand. Free horse and carriage rides. For more information call 352-336-9096 or visit hailehomestead.org.

Dec. 4

Holiday Parade — Tacachale Center, 1621 Northeast Waldo road, is organizing its annual Holiday Parade beginning at 10:20 a.m. Participants will include school bands, ROTC units, law enforcement agencies, antique cars and floats. For more information, call Paul Hawkins at 352-955-5958 or email paula.hawkins@apdcares.org.

Dec. 6

"Songs of the Season" — The Santa Fe Singers will perform their annual concert at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Hall at the Norhwest Campus of Santa Fe College, 3000 NW 83rd St. Tickets are $15 for adults; $9 for seniors, children and University of Florida students; and free for SF students, faculty and staff with valid college ID cards. For information, call the box office at 395-4181 or visit sfcollege.edu/finearts.

The chorus and soloists will perform holiday favorites from different decades and styles including classical, jazz, pop and gospel. Piano professor Mitch McKay and the Santa Fe Band, directed by professor Steve Bingham, Ph.D., will accompany the singers.

The program includes a new version of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” a Christmas carol based on an 1863 poem by the American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; arrangements of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming,” first published in Germany in 1599; and "All is Well," a song of hope and celebration by Michael W. Smith.

Also on the the program are "Bashana Haba'ah" (“Next Year”), an upbeat, popular contemporary Jewish song; "Gesu Bambino," an Italian Christmas carol composed in 1917; and "Go Tell It On the Mountain," an African-American spiritual that dates back to at least 1865.

Tacachale Holiday Tree Lighting — Tacachele Center will hosts its 34th annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at 6:30 p.m., complete with holiday songs. The festivities are free and open to the public. Performers at the center, 1621 Northeast Waldo Road, will include 1000 Voices of North Central Florida and the Tacachale Carolers. Santa Claus may make an appearance, as well.

Dec. 7

Homestead by candlelight — Historic Haile Homestead, an 1856 plantation home at 8500 SW Archer Road, will be aglow with candlelight and other soft lights, the only time each year the house is open at night. The event is 6-9 p.m., with $10 admission, children 12 and younger free, and $7 advance tickets available at hailehomestead.org by clicking the donate button. Thouse will be decked out the holidays. Docents in Victorial cosume will be on hand. For more information call 352-336-9096 or visit the website.

Giving opportunities

Tacachale Center is seeking sponsors for its Christmas Home Adoption. Individuals or groups who would like to sponsor a home are asked to provide a gift for each person living there and to throw a small party with light refreshments. For more details, contact Erin Saunders at (352) 955-5973 or erin.saunders@apdcares.org.

Also, Tacachale residents have holiday wish lists. Tax deductible donations can be made to Tacachale Christmas 2018 and mailed to: Tacachale Volunteer Services, 1621 NE Waldo Road, Gainesville, FL 32609. For more information, call Paul Hawkins at 352-955-5958 or email paula.hawkins@apdcares.org.