Volume 32, Number 12
In December & Inside 1st Carol of Lights ....page 3 4th First Friday Art Trail 11th First Day of Hanukkah 12th Candlelight at the Ranch & Cow Trail Christmas............page 1 21st 1st day of winter 25th Christmas Day 31st New Year’s Eve Santa Land ...................page 1 Museums participate in Toys for Tots.....page 18 4-wheel drives needed ..............page 22 Prioritize safety..........page 24 Secret Santas needed ..............page 18 Noodle Artistry .............page 3 ‘End The Streak’ .........page 12 Charitable giving opions ............................page 2
Medicare Open Enrollment continues through Dec. 7
December 2020
24 Pages
Lubbock, Texas 79401
Candlelight at the Ranch on KTTZ-TV & a drive-by ‘Cow Trail Christmas’ Candlelight at the Ranch has been an annual Christmas celebration for more than four decades at the National Ranching Heritage Center, but this year’s pandemic has brought changes to the way the center will celebrate a frontier Christmas. A prerecorded televised 42nd Annual Candlelight at the Ranch will air at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 on PBS station KTTZ-TV. Narrated by Western entertainer Red Steagall, the broadcast will feature video of past Candlelight events but primarily use the help of 48 Ranch Host volunteers dressed in period clothing to recreate a frontier Christmas in 10 historic ranching structures. Texas Tech Public Media PBS station filmed two to three segments a week for two months to prepare the hour-long program. The televised Candlelight also will air at numerous other times leading up to Christmas and will be available online at KTTZ.org and nrhc.ttu.edu. In an effort to somehow use the NRHC facilities without risking the health of staff, volunteers and visitors, the center is preparing a “Cow Trail Christmas” in J.J. Gibson Memorial Park at the center’s entrance, 3121 4th St.
Both the park and the entry gate will be decorated and lit with holiday lights every evening throughout December for visitors to drive by or park, walk through the front park and take pictures. Designed to commemorate the open-range era in the West, 19 lifesize bronzes of rangy Longhorn steers have been placed in a variety of poses within the Gibson Park to resemble a herd walking. Each steer weighs 750 pounds and carries the brand of its donor, including some of the most historic ranches in Texas. Santa Land will be open this year For the first time in the 50-year as a drive-through event from 6 to 10 history of the NRHC, a “Cow Trail p.m. Dec. 10-23. Christmas” will light up the NRHC Admission for all ages is free. entrance. Lubbock Parks and Recreation has hosted Santa Land for the past 64 years, featuring the festive holiday village with its huge lighted Christmas tree, animated displays, bonfires, and traditional holiday scenes. There will be a one way entrance and exit. Enter Mackenzie Park off East Broadway onto Canyon Lake Drive at the Bayer Agriculture Museum, Carol of Lights: virtual on Dec. 1 and then proceed northwest toward See story Page 3 Joyland Amusement Park.
Santa Land open December 10-23