Christmas on the Chisholm Trail

The City of Belton and The Downtown Belton Merchants Association (DBMA) sponsored this year’s Christmas on the Chisholm Trail: An Old Fashioned Christmas in Downtown Belton on December 5, 2015.

According to beltontexas.gov, Christmas on the Chisholm Trail was anticipated to be the biggest and best Christmas event in Central Texas. The streets of Downtown Belton were occupied by over 130 vendors with food, games, crafts, clothing, and jewelry to help with any hard-to-buy person on your Christmas list. Holiday decorations help paint the picture that the Christmas season was in full swing.

“This is an opportunity for me to get my business out in the public. There was a lot of talk about the amount of visitors the Chisholm Trail attracts. I am happy with the new business and the potential for repeat customers since I was able to pass out a many of my business cards,” said Vendor Idalia Berumen of Gypsy Queen.

Stores permanently located in downtown also benefited from the holiday event.

“We have had a lot of people come in to browse. The Chisholm Trial offered my store even more exposure since we are located so close to all the festivities,” said Silvia Copenhaver of Main Street Bridal.

Friends of the Lena Armstrong Library gave books to anyone with the desire to read something new. Children were catered with their own Kid’s Zone to include bounce houses. The barrel train was there to offer a guided tour of the attractions and the Belton Fire Department shared their fire trucks with all want-to-be firefighters. Face painting, which is always a favorite, decorated many little faces as they participated in all the activities. Guest could be heard singing along with the Christmas music which was provided by our own Belton School District choirs and feature performers. Santa Claus had his own special spot located right at City Hall.

With darkness approaching, one of the main attractions was about to begin. The streets of downtown became bordered with viewers anticipating the parade featuring seasonal floats produced by local merchants. Many Christmas characters were represented, including Rudolf himself.

According to texasescapes.com, the Old Chisholm Trail was the primary route out of Texas for livestock and was considered one of the wonders of the western world in its day. The trail included our town of Belton. From 1867 until 1884, more than five million cattle and a million mustangs followed the trail, making it the largest migration of livestock in history.