ATLANTA, Texas -- The second annual "Cruise through Christmas," a community holiday celebration, is planned for 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health Center - Atlanta, located at 1007 South William St.
"Cruise through Christmas" will feature a live Nativity, Santa Claus, goodie bags for children, lighting of the hospital campus, classic Christmas tunes and more. The event is free to the public.
Participants can drive through the campus entering at the 1007 William St. main entrance while staying in their vehicles. Traffic will line up on East Pinecrest Drive and move one way at this event, giving area families the opportunity to help continue the Christmas tradition.
CHRISTUS and Genesis PrimeCare Ellington Memorial Clinic are presenting the event. This is the ninth year CHRISTUS has been able to host a community Christmas lighting. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, this drive-through event has replaced the traditional lighting event.
Development Coordinator Melissa Kimble said she is excited to present this event to the public.
"We still wanted to have an event where we turn on the Christmas lights on the campus and this was something that people looked forward to," Kimble said. "We thought, 'Well, what if we just have people drive through?' And it just kind of grew from there."
She said improvements have been made since last year's event, when more people showed up than were initially anticipated and they ran out of goodie bags.
"I am very excited for this, and associates at the hospital are really excited to be able to share the lighting of the campus with the community and also to share what we're about -- and we're about Jesus," she said. "This is a great way to show that to the community."
(For more information, contact Kimble at 903.799.3301)