Alliance For Dade To Sponsor Holiday Events
REBECCA HAZEN/Dade County Sentinel
The Alliance for Dade is sponsoring two events on Saturday, Dec. 4, in which the community are encouraged to attend and participate in. The Dade EXPO — Jolly Holidays, will be an opportunity for Christmas shopping, and Light Up Trenton will be an effort to get the whole city to decorate.
By REBECCA HAZEN
News Editor
The Alliance for Dade is sponsoring two holiday events on Saturday, Dec. 4, the Dade EXPO — Jolly Holidays, and Light Up Trenton.
The EXPO is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dade County High School. Light Up Trenton starts at 6 p.m., and is city-wide.
The EXPO will feature exhibitors selling various items. It is a good opportunity for the community to come out and go shopping for Christmas gifts. Admission is free.
The event was first known as the Business EXPO, and was organized by Nathan Wooten, but it has involved into an activity that the Alliance for Dade is now sponsoring.
If anyone is interested in being an exhibitor, it costs $25 for an 8×10 foot booth with a six–foot table. Register for a spot at alliancefordade.com.
Non-profit organizations, that will not sell anything, and offer information about their services to the community, can get a booth for free. For example, The Optimist Club and Dade First-Family Connection will be at the EXPO.
Some of the exhibitors that have already signed up will be selling items that include: board games, jewelry, crafts, wreaths, sewing products, hair bows and original art prints.
“People have been confined for some extended period of time. We are going to make this event safe. Masks will be available if people want them,” Jane Dixon, Alliance for Dade board member, said.
Dixon noted that the main goal of the Dade EXPO — Jolly Holidays is to get people to stay in Trenton and shop, instead of going to Chattanooga.
“We want the businesses in Trenton to come alive. We don’t have a lot of boutique shops, we just don’t. But what we do have are people who have put together small, local businesses,” Dixon said.
Also at the EXPO will be food, and fun activities for kids, including the opportunity to make Christmas ornaments that will be given to nursing homes and local shut-ins. There will also be choir performances and free photos with Santa.
Shoppers are encouraged to stay for dinner, and then enjoy more festivities in the evening. At 6 p.m. the Christmas lights will be turned on in the city, part of the Light Up Trenton event, followed by the annual Christmas parade, sponsored by the Bank of Dade. This year’s theme for the parade is “All I Want For Christmas.”
Local businesses are encouraged to decorate with lights, and other types of decorations. Prizes will be awarded for the best decorations.
Last year’s winner was Citizen’s Bank. This year a representative from the bank will be passing on the first place plaque to the new winner.
“Coming off of the pandemic, where some of us didn’t even get to see our families for the holidays, this year we are ready to spread joy and to have happiness in this community,” Dixon said.
The mission of the Alliance for Dade is to promote business and tourism, enhance economic and community development, and serve as a catalyst for improving the overall quality of life in Dade County. The Alliance hopes to have 100 investors by the end of the year.
“We want to enrich our community with functions that people will want to come to. We are encouraging people to come from Chattanooga. There are a lot of people in Chattanooga that haven’t even heard of Trenton,” Dixon said.
For more information about the events, contact Dixon at (423) 580-9205 or jane.dixon@alliancefordade.com.