Christmas in Dade City
If you get in your car and follow the North Star on I-75, you may not find Bethlehem, but you will find a small town that still remembers how to celebrate the holidays.
Dade City's annual Church Street Christmas — a three-night event that features fellowship, caroling and festive outdoor strolling — takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 21-23, and draws thousands of visitors.
Begun on a very small scale in 1978 on the steps of the First Baptist Church, the event originated as a fellowship celebration hosted by the Sanctuary Choir. Church Avenue, named for its many churches, developed as a residential area in the 1880s as Dade City grew from an isolated settlement to a railroad town and county seat.
Local churches continue to sponsor the event, held along a seven-block area of Church Avenue between 10th and 17th streets.
Church Avenue has been a registered historic district since 1983, protecting its prominent examples of turn-of-the-century architecture. Built in 1890, the First Presbyterian Church is perhaps the most striking, set well back from the redbrick road with its tall steeple and stark clapboard siding.
For Church Street Christmas, all of the homes along the street are decorated and the churches are open, offering holiday music recitals. The sidewalks are lined with luminary candles and life-size Christmas cards, creating what's called Christmas Card Lane. The cards' holiday messages are hand-painted and sponsored by local schools, churches and health care providers.
Directions to this event are simple: Take I-75 north to Exit 59, take State Road 52 east into Dade City (approximately 11 miles) and take a right onto Church Avenue. For more information on this event, call 352-567-3265.
—Cooper Cruz
This article appears in Dec 20-26, 2002.
