After a year off, Sights and Sounds brings holiday cheer to San Marcos
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
After heavy rains forced city leaders to cancel the annual Sights and Sounds of Christmas festival last year, the lights are once again shining in San Marcos.
With thousands of lights, singing and Santa, Sights and Sounds is expected to bring tens of thousands of people to San Marcos' Plaza Park this year. Those crowds will give groups like Boy Scout Troop 125 the chance to raise some much needed money.
"These boys are all going to summer camp this summer. It's quite expensive and they'll earn every penny themselves,” Rob Shaw with Troop 125 said. “Our parents don't have to put in any money because they do so well at this."
Last year, they also learned in business not everything goes your way. Heavy rains turn the park in to a mud-filled bog, forcing the city to pull the plug on Friday and Saturday, the festival's busiest nights.
"We brought in a third of the money we normally bring in, so we had to scramble around and do some other things," Shaw said.
Monte Rector is the director of the Bethlehem Project, a nonprofit group made up of several area church members.
"Last year was a muddy mess and we were rained out and I ended up thousands of dollars in the hole,” Rector said. “But this year, there's just been a huge turnout, I think because the people missed it."
Last year’s mud left the group scrambling to sell thousands of turkey legs, but they're back this year with a reminder that there's more to Christmas than Santa and presents.
"There's another story and there's a deeper meaning for love and giving and kindness, all the things that show up mostly around the holidays," Rector said.
Sights and Sounds of Christmas continues through Saturday.