Downtown Opelika is getting gussied up for the holiday season and for one of its long- standing traditions.
The night of December 12, Christmas in a Railroad Town will draw in visitors and residents alike to the growing downtown.
Christmas in a Railroad Town was started 20 years ago by the same woman who started Opelika's Victorian Front Porch Christmas Tour.
She started the downtown event the year after the Christmas Tour's first year.
"She created Christmas in a Railroad Town to add a downtown commercial feel because the other event is in the residential district," said Pam Powers-Smith, director of Opelika Main Street.
Shortly after its inception, Opelika Main Street, a program which works to revitalize the downtown area, took over the event.
"It's basically what most people would consider an old- world-village Christmas," Powers-Smith said.
The event includes wagon rides and covered trolley rides through the Victorian Front Porch Christmas Tour, a petting zoo and outside food vendors.
Restaurants and shops will also have extended hours.
"Some of our vendors have been with us all 20 years, which is kind of rare to see these days," Powers-Smith said.
The event hasn't strayed from its roots much, with the exception of the size of the crowd according to Powers-Smith.
"An interesting fact about this event is that it has grown every single year," Powers-Smith said. "We've never decreased in attendance. Sometimes I get a little scared about how many people are going to show up."
However, with the event not charging for admission, Opelika Main Street has to make estimations of the crowd. Last year, they estimated 3,500 people attended.
Nonetheless, people have seen a growth in Opelika's downtown with events such as these.
Powers-Smith said the amount of restaurants and shops downtown has grown significantly along with the event's growth.
"My job is to get people downtown," Powers-Smith said. "Events are a logical way to do that. ten, twelve years ago, we had to have events to get people out. We've grown a lot in the past couple years. It's easy to get people downtown now, but we used to beg people."
Not only does the event "foster community," according to Powers-Smith, but it also encourages visitors to shop locally.
"It really fulfills a lot of goals, because not only is it fostering community, but it's helping local retailers," Powers-Smith said. "People are shouting mad all the time that we should shop local, so it really fulfills that because you're shopping from local merchants, so it's really hitting a lot of different goals."
According to Powers-Smith, Christmas in a Railroad Town attracts visitors. Powers-Smith said she is most excited for those who haven't been to downtown Opelika in five or ten years to visit to see how much it has grown.
"I, personally, feel it, as well as the Victorian Front Porch Tour, and the other Christmas events are a gift to the community and surrounding areas," said Dinah Motley, Opelika chamber of commerce business marketing director. "Christmas in a Railroad town is our heritage since the railroad was so important to the building of Opelika. I love that through events like this, people come downtown and see our quaint but prosperous city."
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