Jaxton Hines, 8, of Canyon City, talks to Santa Claus at the Prairie City Community Center during Christmas on the Prairie with his mother, Amanda Hines, on Nov. 18, 2023.

PRAIRIE CITY — Five-year-old McCrae Mund, of Prairie City, finally got his chance.

“I want Yellowstone animals and Jurassic dinosaurs,” he said as he sat on Santa Claus’ lap.

Mund was among scores of children at the Prairie City Community Center to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas, in addition to participating in activities like card making, ornament decorating and face painting.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus, in all their Christmas finery, were on hand at the community center on Saturday, Nov. 18, as part of Christmas on the Prairie, an annual event sponsored by the Greater Prairie City Community Association, the American Legion Auxiliary and local businesses.

Amy Charette, of John Day, brought her daughters to see Santa Claus at the community center and check out the town’s Christmas bazaar.

“Yes, we come down here every year and the girls do Christmas shopping (at the bazaar) and we come to see Santa,” she said. “We love it. It brings joy and we get some Christmas presents from local crafters, so we enjoy it.”

A short distance away, the American Legion Auxiliary Holiday Bazaar was held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the cafeteria at Prairie City School. The event featured 20 vendors, a wide assortment of gift items for sale, and raffles. Cinnamon rolls were served in the morning, and the Prairie City High girls basketball team served lunch.

“It gives people a chance to go shopping for Christmas presents,” said Lisa Rynearson, president of the American Legion Auxiliary Post 106 of Prairie City. “A lot of Christmas presents are bought here. The garden club makes and sells homemade pies for Thanksgiving.”

Nearby, members of the Prairie City Community 4-H Club were selling baked goods to raise money for the Carrie Young Memorial Dinner and Auction, which benefits Grant County senior citizens and residents of assisted living facilities.

“This gives the community an opportunity to support small businesses or support kids’ organizations,” said Amanda Rockhill, a 4-H leader and parent. “I like it because you get to see all the people come out. We’re coming up on the months that are going to get kind of dark and gloomy. And you get to see people before all that happens.”

Amanda Gibbs, of Prairie City, was admiring the carved wooden children’s toys made by Mike Ledgerwood at the bazaar.

“I think that it’s real great a small town can come together like this and put on stuff for everybody,” she said.

Related events were held at various locations around town. The theme of this year’s Christmas on the Prairie, “Woodland Christmas,” was celebrated throughout the day with a woodland ornament hunt and school art contest.

A snowball drop (actually numbered pingpong balls) was held in the morning near Depot Park at Bridge and Main streets. A portion of the street was blocked off where the snowballs were dropped, and the first one to cross the finish line at the bottom of the hill was declared the winner. There were also prizes for the last ball across the line and three randomly selected numbers.

The evening before, the Prairie City High School cheerleaders hosted a Christmas movie night at 6 p.m. at the community center.

The Clauses kicked off the holiday season in Prairie City by lighting the community Christmas tree, an enormous evergreen growing at the north end of City Park, where musician Les Church played Christmas songs on his guitar.

“I love the way the businesses come together for this annual event,” said Taci Philbrook, president of the Grant County Chamber of Commerce, who also played the part of Mrs. Claus. “We have people that come from Washington for this annual event, and I really appreciate how the whole town comes together for this.”