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Ballinger's Old Town Christmas provides a genuine Old West Christmas experience.

Christmas

By isuru devindaPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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Old West Christmas

When the Christmas lights in Old Town Christmas, located just south of Ballinger, come on after dark on a 75-degree West Texas evening, it's just after dark. A big pumpkin patch was bursting with a little over a month ago. It's now Old Town Christmas, replete with a Christmas tree farm featuring five different tree varieties to choose from.

For many visitors to Old Town, passing through the gate is simply the beginning of a trip down memory lane. The rooftops of the buildings that have been built, and those that are being built, are adorned with Christmas exhibits ranging from the Grinch to Kris Kringle himself. "We've already built six of the 22 structures we've planned. We planned to put up facades when we first started, but we decided to go all out and create whole structures "Jonathan Smith, a co-owner, agrees.

The construction is more than just throwing up a few boards and exhibiting; it's completely authentic, employing 100-year-old wood and traditional construction techniques. Smith stated that the legitimacy of his work was never questioned "We wanted to get it right the first time. We have a total of 14 acres here. We're constructing a boardwalk through town, similar to those found in the Old West. We want people to feel as if they've traveled across time."

On the road through this town that seems like it popped out of the pages of an Elmer Kelton story, we pass by a kiddie Christmas train that transports small children. The ornaments strewn over town are handcrafted wooden ornaments that, like everything else, are genuine.

There's a Gunslinger cafe, a water wheel, a saloon, a hotel, a general store, and the workshop of a busy white-bearded gentleman who'll be making the rounds on Christmas Eve night. Elves are reported to have built the wooden toys on a vast workbench in the workshop.

The General Store features a wide assortment of candies and novelty snacks, including cocoa bombs, decadent chocolate delicacies that transport you back in time when you fill them with warm milk.

The community is much more than a throwback to the Wild West. They have hens, cows, ducks, guinea pigs, goats, and swine among their livestock. The chickens and ducks have complete freedom to meet visitors, clucking and quacking around. Walking inside the store makes you feel as if you've traveled back in time to a simpler era when gifts were made by hand rather than purchased by clicking on a link on a website.

Old Christmas music play from speakers throughout the town, catching some people off guard as they enter through the gates, with one visitor remarking, "Is that snow?" Snowflakes glitter as they reflect the lights strung across rooftops, a snow machine hard at work adding that real touch "With the snow machine, we can make any size flakes. It is really popular."

The snow brings back memories of an older couple giggling as they "ooh" and "aah" at the falling flakes, stretching their tongues out to catch the delight falling from the sky 50 years ago.

Kellie Book, a Ballinger native, owns the establishment and sells tickets at the entry "We couldn't do it half-heartedly. We had to go all the way or we wouldn't be able to do it at all. We're investing a lot of money into making this a success. We're not just constructing for this year; we're constructing for many years to come."

Christmas in Old Town isn't a one-trick pony. From September to Halloween, it was the pumpkin patch, as previously stated. Now that Christmas has passed, Smith says he has greater ideas in the works "Every season of the year will have a different theme. We want to be a year-round destination for people."

Smith and Book are constructing Airbnb rooms on the sprawling site to achieve this goal. They also have field trips coming in from Coleman, Grape Creek, and other local schools. "It's really about educating youngsters about how things used to be, about the history of this area, which has always been based around agriculture," Smith says.

On weekends, Santa himself is available, as well as the Grinch, who will welcome visitors.

Old Town Christmas is located at 8601 US Highway 67 in Ballinger. They're open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Adult tickets are $5, and children ages 5 to 12 are $3. Season passes are also available. Call 800-278-1898 for additional information.

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