December 9, 2014: Our speaker Scott Watson became the director of the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs in January 2013. Scott moved here from New York with his wife and their eighteen month old daughter. The Office of Cultural Affairs have been very busy as we approach the holiday season. As Scott says it is a sprint to the finish as 2014 comes to an end. Two events have already taken place kicking off the holiday celebration. Last Saturday in Marion Square the city held the annual tree lighting ceremony, which went off without a hitch, despite Captain Hook kidnapping Mayor Riley and the Wicked Witch of the West making a visit. This past Sunday the Annual Charleston Holiday Parade took place. The city has worked really hard to make this parade a family event and included things like Santa riding in the bucket of a fire truck.
This coming Saturday is the Annual Parade of Boats, which of course our Rotary Club is one of the co sponsors. The parade will have about around twenty boats that range in size from ninety feet to seventeen feet. The parade can be viewed all around Charleston Harbor but the best place to view this is at the Maritime Center during our event we are having. This event will include lots of activities for the entire family, including reindeer games. We enjoyed a sample of these games during the rotary meeting this past Tuesday. The winner of games we had at the meeting , Ruthie is available for pointers on how to best train for the reindeer games at the Maritime Center.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings from now to Christmas the Holiday Farmers Market will be held from 9am to 4pm. On Sunday December 21st from 4pm to 6pm Marion Square will be transformed in to Chanukah in the Square. On Friday December 26th from 5pm to 6pm Marion Square will host the Kwanzaa Kinari Lighting. And to wrap things up on New Year’s Eve from 4pm to 10pm Marion Square will host Happy New Year Charleston.
—Todd Confarotta