Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The new executive director of the Tucumcari MainStreet program wants to put the Christmas season on the city’s tourism radar.
Connie Loveland, who took over the MainStreet post in June, announced last week a multipronged and coordinated effort called “A Very Merry Tucumcari” to make the city more of a holiday destination.
First, Loveland said she wants to revive MainStreet’s Christmas Lamplighter initiative that began in 2015 but was set aside. The Lamplighter program seeks to put commercial Christmas decorations on lampposts along Tucumcari’s First Street, Main Street and Route 66 corridors.
Loveland said in a phone interview Friday she realizes it likely would take years to fundraise for all of the decorations required because they cost $300 to $800 each. She said 27 lampposts stand from McDonald’s on South First Street to Main Street downtown. She wants to buy 30 commercial Christmas decorations for those posts, costing from $15,000 to $20,000. The City of Tucumcari would install them.
Along Route 66, she aims to eventually fully decorate lampposts from Mountain Road to 11th Street.
Loveland also is encouraging businesses, motels and homeowners to decorate for Christmas. The “deck the halls” season will effectively begin with the lighting of the city’s historic railroad depot and its nearby tree on Nov. 30, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
She also is working with the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, plus Mesalands Community College and several area charities, to coordinate and list all Christmas-season events into one website so they can be more effectively promoted. Those with knowledge of Yuletide events ranging from choir performances to decorating contests to gingerbread competitions should contact her at (575) 461-3701 or email [email protected] by Nov. 1.
Loveland said the “Very Merry Tucumcari” idea was sparked after learning of McAdenville, North Carolina, called “Christmas Town USA” because of its extensive Christmas lighting. According to the 2010 Census, McAdenville contains only 651 residents, but its holiday lighting attracts more than 600,000 visitors and $12 million in revenue annually.
Loveland said more details about “A Very Merry Tucumcari,” including its logo and T-shirt, should be unveiled during the organization’s annual Fired Up festival on Sept. 28. She anticipates the logo will incorporate a neon lighting design — an homage to Tucumcari’s Route 66 heritage.
Loveland said “A Very Merry Tucumcari” received extensive support since she announced it on a Tucumcari radio station last week.
“It’s been 100 percent positive,” she said. “It haven’t heard anyone express that it’s not going to work.”