Get ready for the spookiest event of the year! There will be tent decorating, trick-or-treating, a haunted hayride, cookout & more! Bring your own tent, camping gear and decorations; food, drinks, candy and lots of fun provided!
Start off with the BASF Kids Run (600 meters). Kids run is FREE and includes a fun run t-shirt and medals to all children who participate. Then we’ll have a 5k run through MacLean Park and along the Dow Centennial Trail. We will also give awards for the best costumes, so show us your running style in style! Monster Dash t-shirts to the first 100 5k participants who register.
All prescription & non-prescription drugs are accepted in a drive through collection process and disposed of properly. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards. You can help prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding your home of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted medications. •All items can be left in the original packaging, •You do not have to empty bottles into a zip lock. You may leave the items as you found them and bring them for disposal, •All “over the counter” medicines/drugs are accepted, • All prescription medicines/drugs are accepted, •Needles will be accepted,
Bring your pets for a fun day in the park! Join us for food, entertainment, vendors and a silent auction. have your pet micro-chipped on site for only $20. There will also be a costume contest for your pets & children.
Clean-up activities in and around the city to get ready for the Festival of Lights & Parade! Paper shredding on site; used oil collected, eye glasses recycled for the Lions Club Electronic Waste Collection @ Brazosport College 8:00 am – Noon
Bring your favorite “friend” to afternoon tea. The party will include entertainment, dessert and pictures. Bring a new or gently used toy to donate to Blue Santa. Blue Santa provides food and toys to needy families in Lake Jackson during the Christmas Season.
Come be a part of the 25th annual FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Kick off the holiday season with a family friendly festival for all ages – the annual Festival of Lights! Please bring your family and friends – come spend the day with us.
Give the gift of life! Schedule and appointment online at www.giveblood.org, enter sponsor code 0201 or call (979) 297-4533
Many Jewish communities in the United States observe the first day of Hanukkah, which marks the start of Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah or Festival of Lights. Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish observance that remembers the Jewish people’s struggle for religious freedom.
Hanukkah gifts wrapped and ready to be given.
©iStockphoto.com/MarkCoffeyPhoto
What do people do?
Jewish communities in the United States celebrate the first day of Hanukkah on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Jewish calendar. The Hanukkah period lasts for eight days and is celebrated from the 25th day of Kislev to the second day of Tevet. The first night of Hanukkah (or Chanukah) starts with special blessings at sunset the day before the 25th of Kislev. Many Jewish people light the hanukiah (or chanukkiyah), which is a type of candelabrum.
Many Americans of Jewish faith also eat food fried in olive oil, such as potato cakes, and different fried breads. Hanukkah dishes include sufganiot (Hanukkah donuts), potato latkes (pancakes), mandelbrot (this can be sliced like a hard bread), and rugelach (pastry that with different fillings). The first day of Hanukkah is the start of a celebratory period in which a four-sided toy called dreidel is used for games. The first night of Hanukkah is also a night when people sing traditional songs to celebrate Hanukkah. Gift-giving is also popular at this time of the year.
Public life
The first day of Hanukkah is not a federal public holiday in the United States. Some Jewish schools have their school vacation fall around the same time of Hanukkah.
Background
Hanukkah commemorates the Jewish people’s successful rebellion against the Greeks in the Maccabean War in 162 BCE. A ritual cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple occurred after the Jewish people’s victory. It is believed that there was only enough consecrated oil to keep the lamp burning for one day but the small bottle of oil miraculously lasted for eight days. Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is referred as the Feast of Lights or Festival of Lights for this reason.
Moreover, the survival of Judaism over the many years is also celebrated during this period. The last day of Hanukkah, which marks the end of Hanukkah, falls on the eighth day of this period.
Symbols
The dreidel is a toy that is popular during the Hanukkah celebrations. It is a spinning top with a different Hebrew letter inscribed in each of its four sides – the four letters form an acronym meaning “a great miracle happened here”. The hanukiah (or chanukkiyah) is a type of candelabrum that holds eight candles to commemorate the eight days that the oil burned and a ninth candle that sits apart, known as the shamash, or servant candle that lights the others. One candle is lit on the first night, another on the second, and so forth until all candles are lit on the last night.
About Chanukah/Hanukkah (first day) in other countries
Read more about Chanukah/Hanukkah (first day).
Chanukah/Hanukkah (first day) Observances
Note: Jewish holidays begin at sundown the day before the date specified for the holiday.
Courtesy of DateandTime.com
The Advent season marks the beginning of the Christian year across many western churches in the United States. Its length varies from 22 to 28 days, starting on the Sunday nearest St Andrew’s Day and encompassing the next three Sundays, ending on Christmas Day.
Advent wreaths can be seem in some churches in the United States during the Advent season.
©iStockphoto.com/Dušan Zidar
What do people do?
Many Christians in the United States attend a church service on the first Sunday of Advent and may engage in activities such as special prayers and contributing to ideas on enhancing peace. Many Advent traditions are observed in the United States in the prelude to Christmas Day. For example, the Advent wreath is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. The wreath can be seen in various churches across the nation around this time of the year.
Advent calendars of all designs are also given as gifts at this time of the year. The calendars feature openings in the form of windows or doors that are numbered to count the days to Christmas. Calendars may contain chocolates, toys, or candy and are given to children as a fun way to observe the Christmas countdown. Some traditional Advent calendars show 24 days but many Advent calendars showing 25 days, with the last opening on Christmas Day.
The church year begins in September 1 in many eastern Christian churches, so Advent begins at a different time to when it starts in the western churches. The eastern equivalent of Advent is called the Nativity Fast, which runs for 40 days.
Public life
The first Sunday of Advent is not a nationwide public holiday in the United States. However, churches may be busy on this day, as well as families who use the beginning of Advent as a time to prepare for the Christmas season.
Background
It is uncertain as to when exactly the celebration of Advent was first introduced in the Christian church. Some sources say that Advent began on November 11 (St Martin’s Day) at some time in the fifth century in the form of a six-week fast leading to Christmas. Advent was reduced to its current length at some stage in the sixth century and the fasting was later no longer observed. Advent is originally a time to reflect and prepare for Christmas similarly to how Lent is in preparation for Easter. Advent has sometimes been referred to as the Winter Lent. In recent times the restrictions that Advent brings to Christians have become more relaxed.
Advent traditions spread from Europe to the United States, especially the Advent calendar, which became very popular in the United States after World War II as American military personnel and their families who were stationed in Germany brought them home and made them a part of the pre-Christmas traditions. Some people credit President Dwight Eisenhower with helping the tradition of the Advent calendar spread in the United States during the 1950s.
Symbols
Purple is historically the main color used for Advent because it reflects penitence, fasting, and the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the king (Jesus Christ). The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his first Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his second Advent. Some churches use other colors in recent times. For example, some churches mark the third Sunday of Advent with pink or rose, colors that represent joy. Many Protestant churches use blue to distinguish the Season of Advent from Lent.
Advent wreaths are symbolic of Advent. They are usually made of fir and decorated with gold and silver ribbons or scarlet woolen threads. Lit wreaths may be displayed on the table where family and friends sit while singing carols and preparing handmade gifts.
About First Sunday of Advent in other countries
Read more about First Sunday of Advent.
Courtesy of DateandTime.com