The holiday tradition of lighting up Manhattan continued this Friday as the 19th annual Mayor’s Spirit of Holidays Lighted Parade brought hundreds of people out for a little Christmas cheer while still socially distancing.
The parade acts as an opportunity to raise awareness of the Flint Hills Breadbasket. Instead of bringing gifts to the parade, supporters were asked to contribute food or money directly to the Breadbasket this year.
That is the sound of Fort Riley Band Members as they rode down 11th Street.
The parade began at 5:30 p.m. on the corner of 3rd Street and Poyntz Avenue, then traveled up Poyntz, went through Aggieville, and ended at City Park.
Originally there was confusion whether the parade would actually take place in the region with increasing cases of coronavirus. Downtown Manhattan, Inc. says the City of Manhattan had agreed to step forward as planned with the event, along with the Riley County Emergency Operations Center. With around 38 entries, about a quarter less than average, it was a slightly smaller parade.
Several changes were made to accommodate for ongoing safety measures, primarily no walking parade entries, participants were not allowed to distribute candy or other trinkets, and both spectators and participants were required to wear masks and maintain distance.
Local residents standing along the parade route expressed that they came out this year, as so many before, because it’s a tradition, especially as there are not many opportunities’ to congregate and remain safe.
The annual tree lighting ceremony, which typically takes place at the end of the parade, was held the day prior as a virtual event featuring Manhattan Mayor Usha Reddi, Kansas State University President Richard Myers, and Flint Hills Breadbasket Executive Director Maribeth Kieffer.
The holiday tree is a Colorado blue spruce which was planted by the City’s Forestry Department in 2019. It replaced the previous 20 year-old blue spruce which was blown down in high winds in March of 2019.
Chairman of the Manhattan Parks and Recreation board and Former Mayor, Ed Klimek was in person as the tree was lit up. Klimek highlighted this was the third mayor’s tree on said spot in Triangle Park and that this year was the 35th anniversary of the Breadbasket food and fun drive.
Reddi explained that the tree lighting ceremony was dedicated to the Flint Hills Breadbasket, with the goal of collecting food in the community for those having challenges during the holiday season or in need of food at any time.
“As a community, we’ve done an outstanding job, and we want to continue to have a good holiday season celebrating with our family members. As well as maintaining all safety precautions at the same time,” Reddi said.
Kieffer identified the scope of the pandemic has not diminished the need for food, and while there are challenges, the Flint Hills Breadbasket will continue to provide.
“For example, last year we gave away 160 Thanksgiving baskets, and for those of you that don’t know what that is, that’s everything in that basket makes a Thanksgiving meal. Last year was 160 and this year 205,” Kieffer said. “So that speaks to the added need this year, and we’ve already started with the Christmas baskets and only in two days of doing the Christmas baskets, we’ve gave 25 of those away. So we expect to exceed well over 200 for the Christmas baskets.”
Myers reflected on 2020 as a whole as he stated that it has thus far been a challenging year for everybody, with impacts in many different ways, that served as a test of the great relationship between the town, university, and the county.
“I would say, my scorecard would give us an A plus there. We weathered some really tough times, but we did it as a community, and I think that partnership was critical to our success at Kansas State University [for allowing us]to continue classes,” Myers said. “We couldn’t have done that if we didn’t have great cooperation from the city and from the county. So just great gratitude for our partners, especially our community medical caregivers, they right now are really tested in a very serious, serious way. And I think we all owe them a debt of gratitude.”
