Stillwater offers plenty to do this holiday season

Thursday, downtown Stillwater hosted its annual Parade of Lights, which featured a new lighting system on the Salmon Plaza fountain.

Amy Jo Frazier, business improvement district coordinator for downtown Stillwater, said the event had a massive turnout.

“Many people commented to me that they thought it was bigger than the homecoming parade,” Frazier said. “It's a tremendous upswing. We have definitely seen more business in the holidays, and we have seen a great amount of growth in our business district, but these events bring people downtown, and it brings people who haven't been down there and haven't seen what we have done in the last few years.”

Frazier said Santa paid a visit to a local business, and more than 100 children lined up to see him.

“We had an overwhelming turnout for Santa,” she said. “We had to turn people away, but we told them that Santa would be back.”

Santa will visit downtown Stillwater three more times, stopping at different businesses Tuesday, Thursday and Dec. 15. There also are free carriage rides throughout the holiday season.

Frazier said all the attractions and events help Stillwater prosper.

“Obviously, we want people to come to Stillwater and shop and spend their money here,” she said. “But it's also a quality of life thing here. We want our citizens to enjoy being in Stillwater during the holiday season.”