Where were you in 1954? Many of us weren’t even close to being born while many others were just small children. However, our recent guest on the Carolina Outdoors podcast, Dick Roberts, from McAdenville, NC, was a member of the local Men’s Club and an employee of Pharr Yarns at that time. It was then, when he & three others decided to make an attempt to beautify their town during the Christmas season. They spelled out “Christmas Town” with metal and wrapped it in lights along a hillside. Next they put stars on buildings and the next year they decorated a handful of trees in McAdenville.
From there, the rest is history.
Today, this town of 1,000 explodes with an estimated 600,000 visitors during the month of December each year. The reason? How about 500,000 lights and nearly 500 decorated trees in a 1.3 mile loop through the town. People from multiple states and several countries come to enjoy what Mr. Roberts & friends, the Pharr family, and the Pharr Yarns Company helped begin. This Carolina-Christmas-tradition has come a long way since it first began and has certainly helped accomplish the goal of town beautification, successfully establishing a holiday identity for McAdenville as Christmastown, USA.
And, before you go, make sure to stop in Jesse Brown’s Outdoors at Sharon Corners across from SouthPark Mall for some warm winter clothing…if you decide to see the lights by walking around town, you will be glad you had those warm socks, gloves, sweaters, jackets, and cold weather headgear! If you can’t stop in to browse, make sure to check out our product selection online and reserve items that we have in stock so as to try on in person.
