Families flock to Jingle in the Park
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on December 10, 2016 10:57 PM
News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Hannah Nielson, 3, throws leaves from a pile at the Jingle in the Park Holiday Festival in Herman Park Saturday.
esmith@newsargus.com
Thousands withstood the winter weather to converge on Herman Park for this year's Jingle in the Park.
Goldsboro Parks and Recreation Director Scott Barnard estimated that 750 people attended the event's opening night Friday, and expected around 2,000 people to make their rounds between Santa's s'mores and more Saturday night.
"There's no wind tonight like there was last night, so a lot more people are coming out," Barnard said.
Children had a winter wonderland available for the taking, with a lit up playground, free train rides, Christmas movies, gigantic piles of leaves to jump in, candy cane hunts and, of course, the opportunity to meet Santa Claus.
Nick Nielsen, who came to the event from Calypso, said his daughters, Charlotte and Hannah, enjoyed jumping in and out of the leaf piles the most.
Nielsen said he and his family came to Goldsboro to meet some friends for dinner and stopped at the event on the way.
Kelly and Cameron Mitchell brought their children, Addison and Asher, to the event for the first time.
"He (Asher) loves the choo-choo (train), so we had to come for that," Mrs. Mitchell said.
Mrs. Mitchell said the family lives in Pikeville and her husband used to come to the event when he was young.
"We're trying to take it all in," she said.
Children rushed around on the ice skating rink -- which is made of cutting board material and made slick with food oil -- trying their best to keep their balance on wobbly skates.
Christmas carols echoed through the park as they played through a speaker system and children rushed toward leaf piles to hunt for candy canes.
Santa Claus roared into the park at 6 p.m. on a firetruck to a line of excited children.
And, to top off the night, Elsa and Anna -- two magical princesses from Disney's 'Frozen' -- also made an appearance at the event.