After two years of having to change the format and have the event be a drive-by one because of COVID, the Skip Hunsinger Christmas Children’s Spectacular returns to its old format, by returning to inside the Community Arts Center when the event is held on Sunday, December 11 at 2 p.m.

The event, sponsored by the Volunteer Corps of Ushers of the Community Arts Center, will feature various types of entertainment which are being developed for the show at the time of this writing. It will also include “goody bags” containing candy and various knick-knacks for children attending the Spectacular.

Prize drawings for children ages 5 to 10 will also be held. Each child 5 to 10 years old will be given a ticket, half of which will be detached for the drawing and numbers drawn and called out for various nice prizes that will be given out. And, of course, that “jolly old elf” himself, Santa Claus, will be in the house.

This event begins at 2 p.m., but doors open at 1:15 at the CAC.

The Children’s Christmas Spectacular began in 2007 when my uncle, Harold “Skip” Hunsinger, and Frank “Whitey” Missigman, both then members of the Volunteer Corps of the Community Arts Center, proposed that the CAC’s volunteers sponsor an annual event called the “Children’s Christmas Spectacular,” which was a revival of the Christmas parties sponsored by the local AFL-CIO held at the then Capitol Theater from the late 1930s until the early 1960s. These events usually included a movie, candy, and a small toy for each child, something that was welcome to children, particularly during the Depression years. Skip and a dedicated committee made up of CAC volunteers did all the leg work to make this event possible and as successful as it has been.

For questions about this event, you can contact the CAC box office at (570) 326-2424.