Christmas in Dawson 2022

2022 2022

Christmas in dAWSON

Breakfast with Santa

DECEMBER 3, 2022

The county’s annual Breakfast with Santa event is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3 from 8 to 11 a.m. at Rock Creek Park.

The event includes a chance to visit with Santa, eat breakfast, shop from local vendors, participate in fun activities and more. Admission is free and includes sev eral free activities for children, including goodie bags and toys, ornament making and crafts.

There will also be several items available for purchase, including photos for $5, breakfast for $2 and a variety of items from local vendors. Proceeds from the event go to support local nonprofit K.A.R.E. for Kids. No pets are allowed at the event, and cash only will be accepted.

For more information, contact:

Dawson County Government Find the event page at www.dawsoncountyga.gov

Feed the hungry

25,

The eighth annual Dawson Feed the Hungry event will be held on Christmas Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 25, at the Dawsonville Pool Room.

The event is aimed at providing those in need on Christmas Day with a hot meal and friendly faces to wish them Merry Christ mas. Since Feed the Hungry began eight years ago, volunteers have fed over 14,000 families.

This year’s menu will consist of grilled boneless chicken breast, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, des serts and bottled waters. Event organizers are in need of dona tions of all the foods, as well as monetary donations and volun teers to help deliver and serve meals on the day of the event.

Shop With a Cop

The Dawson County Sheriff’s Office will be holding its annual Shop with a Cop event this holiday season. This program offers underprivileged children in the community the oppor tunity to go purchase Christmas gifts for themselves and for their families.

During the holiday season, officers from DCSO offer to accompany children in the program to help them shop and to help them manage the allotted funds they are given to use.

This year, the sheriff’s office held a motorcycle ride to help raise funds and raised over $5,000 for the Shop with a Cop program.

Throughout the holiday season, the old patrol car decorated for the holidays can be found out and about at local stores and shopping centers to collect money for the program.

For more information about Shop with a Cop, contact:

Find the perfect Christmas tree

Holly Hill Christmas Tree Farm

A family-owned Christmas tree farm in Dahlonega. Cut your own Cypress or Pine, and fresh-cut Fraser Firs! Handmade wreaths available.

Where: 276 Woodland Drive, Dahlonega, GA 30533. Located off Hwy. 19/60 4 miles north of Walmart in Dahlonega.

Hours: 3 p.m. to dark, Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m. to dark, Saturday; 1 p.m. to dark, Sunday. Closed Monday.

Contact: Dave Horton (678) 897-9009, on Facebook at Holly Hill Christmas Tree Farm @HollyHillTreeFarm.

Bottoms Tree Farm

Bottoms Tree Farm has over 5,000 choose and cut Christmas trees. There’s a huge selection of Fresh Cut Fraser Firs from North Carolina in the barn. Just show up with friends and family and be prepared to make a memory that will last a lifetime cutting your very own Christmas tree. All four-legged family mem bers are welcome if they remain on a leash.

When: 3-6 p.m., Monday-Thursday; Noon to 6 p.m., Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday; closed Sunday, through Dec. 17.

Where: 5880 John Burruss Road, Cumming, GA 30040

Contact: (770) 887-2728, visit bottomstreefarm.com, or on Facebook and Instagram at @bottomstreefarm.

Kinsey Family Farm

Kinsey Family Farm has a plethora of trees available to choose from. The farm offers a variety of ways to harvest a Christmas tree including choose and cut your own, pre-cut, and living trees in containers. This year is the farm’s 19th anniversary and as is ‘our tradition we love to give a small gift to our visiting friends . . . our annual pewter Christmas tree ornament.’ The ornament is included with the purchase of a Christmas tree, while sup plies last and doesn’t include Charlie Brown trees or table toppers.

When: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Where: 7170 Jot Em Down Road, Gainesville, GA 30506

Contact: (770) 887-6028, kinseyfamilyfarm.com, or on Facebook and Instagram @kinseyfamilyfarm.

Photo by Jeremy Coleman

Other holiday events in North Georgia

CUMMING

DAHLONEGA

Dahlonega’s “Old Fashioned Christmas” is set to kick off the day after Thanksgiving and events will run through the end of December.

Christmas in Dahlonega will begin with the Lighting of the Square at 6 p.m. on Friday Nov. 25, and the Christmas lights will be lit each night from then through Jan. 8, 2023.

Other highlights of the holiday sea son will include Santa visits and car riage rides every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Christmas market on Dec. 2, 3, 9 and 10, live music performance on Nov. 25 and 26 and Dec. 3, a Christmas parade and live nativity on Dec. 10 and a New Years celebration on Dec. 31.

For more information, go to dahlonegachristmas.com.

ALPHARETTA

Alpharetta will host its annual Christmas market event on Saturday Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The market will be set up in the Alpharetta Community Center at Wills Park and will include over 60 vendors offering a variety of wares from crafts and jewelry to food and home decor.

From 10 a.m. to noon the same day, the Alpharetta Convention and Visitors Bureau will also host a free “Pictures with Santa” event at the Alpharetta Community Center.

For more information, go to www. awesomealpharetta.com and click on events.

The City of Cumming will host its annual Christmas parade and Christmas festival Saturday, Dec. 3. The parade will kick off at 5 p.m. and will travel south on Tribble Gap Road, starting at Forsyth Central High School and ending at the Cumming Fairgrounds. The Christmas festival will then follow the parade from 6 to 8 p.m. and include the tree lighting, vendors, Christmas crafts, pictures with Santa and more.

For more information, visit cumming fair.squarespace.com/christmasparade-festival.

GAINESVILLE

Gainesville’s annual “Christmas on Green Street” event is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 4. The event will include a parade of antique cars, Christmas floats, marching bands and civic groups starting at 4 p.m. and running from the Gainesville Civic Center all the way down Green Street.

After the parade, there will be activi ties from 5 to 7 p.m., including musical groups, magicians, face painters, bal loon artists, storytellers, jugglers, Santa, miniature train rides and food trucks. The evening will culminate with the traditional lighting of the Rotary Tree at 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of Green Street and West Academy Street. For more information, visit www. gainesville.org.

Holiday recipe

Homemade Gingerbread Houses

Nothing says “Christmas family activity” quite like building a gingerbread house. There’s many ways to make it your own, and everyone, young and old, can enjoy it. Put on some Christmas music, your decorator hat and let your creativity run wild!

Ingredients

For gingerbread: 3 cups all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ¾ cup packed brown sugar 1 egg ½ cup molasses 1 tablespoon water

For royal icing: 3 tablespoons meringue powder 4 cups powdered sugar 5 tablespoons water

For decorating: Assorted candies, sprinkles, cookies

Directions

Beat butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. Beat in the egg, molasses and water; scrape the sides of the bowl halfway through mixing to make sure all ingredi ents are incorporated.

Add first 6 ingredients to wet ingredi ents, mixing on low speed until com bined. The cookie dough will be thick. Divide dough in half, flatten into discs and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove each disc from the refrigerator and roll out between two pieces of parchment paper with a

rolling pin to about ¼ inch thickness. Using gingerbread house cookie cut ters (available online on websites like Amazon) or a template (find these online to print and cut out), cut out the pieces for the house. Use any extra dough to re-roll and cut out shapes for extra decorations. Place pieces on cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let pieces cool on a flat surface before you begin constructing your house.

For icing: Beat meringue powder, powdered sugar and water together until icing forms peaks, about 7 to 10 minutes. Check con sistency of icing and add more water if it’s too thick or more sugar if too thin. Place icing in a piping bag for easy application. For decorating, add food dye to icing to tint as desired.

For decorating: Use royal icing to attach gingerbread pieces together. If needed, use cans or other items for support while icing dries. Once the pieces are firmly attached to one another, use extra icing to decorate the house and to affix candies and other decorations to the gingerbread house.

- Recipe by Erica Jones

Local Non-Profits to donate to this holiday season

Dawson County Humane Society 633 Martin Road (706) 265-9160

Goodwill of North Georgia Career Center 66 South 400 Center Lane (706) 344-3409

Sleep in Heavenly Peace 1351 Rider Road (404) 543-0615

Dawson County Woman’s Club

PO Box 1401 (706) 216-1360

The Place of Dawson at RIC-Rack 829 Highway 9 North (706) 265-1371

Friends of Amicalola Falls 240 Amicalola Falls State Road (770) 560-1482

Dawson County Family Connection

96 Academy Avenue (706) 265-1981

Young Life Dawson County PO Box 2007 (678) 925-7422

Rotary Club of Dawson County PO Box 1495 (706) 216-6392

Keep Dawson County Beautiful 25 Justice Way, Suite 2236 (706) 344-3501 ext. 42269

Modern Woodmen of America- Alexandria Willams 135 Prominence Court, Suite 140 (404) 372-0980

Dawson County Wee Book Program

PO Box 1883 (706) 216-0173

KARE for Kids Inc. PO Box 211 (706) 216-5273

Dawsonville Lions Charities PO Box 408 (678) 410-9090

Lighthouse Christian Academy 329 Harmony Church Road (706) 705-4459

Kiwanis Club of Dawson County 109 Highway 53 West (706) 531-1022

Fellowship of Christian Athletes 283 Red Hawk Drive (678) 617-1003

Shop with a Cop

Shop with a Cop offers children the opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts for themselves and/or family members. First responders volunteer to accompany participants during shopping trips and help them manage their allotted funds. We greatly appreciate the financial support received from our community. Without your generous contributions, many of our area youth would unfortunately go without.