Looking With Anticipation To Holidays And New Year 2020

by Kell Palguta, Mayor, Prescott Valley
Greetings everyone! I hope you all are getting ramped up for the holidays as well as the start of a new year.
Here in Prescott Valley we have a lot of unique, exciting things coming up on the calendar. The first is the opening of the Valley of Lights, which is an opportunity for families to travel a 1-mile route of Christmas magic in the safety and comfort of your vehicle. Enjoy tunnels, stationary and animated displays aglow with thousands of festive lights. It’s a wonderful place to bring your holiday guests.
With the weather getting colder outside, things really start to heat up inside at the Findlay Toyota Center with the start of the season for the Northern Arizona Suns. The NAZ Suns offer a great opportunity for a family to go out for the evening and watch high-caliber athletes on the basketball court. Some of these athletes you may see play on a Friday night in Prescott Valley are the same players you might see on TV playing for the Phoenix Suns on a Saturday. If you have a free night, be sure to check out a game. I promise you won’t regret it.
Don’t miss out on our annual holiday events – Festival of Lights and Night Light Parade at the Civic Center Friday, Dec. 6 starting at 5 p.m. with music from local schools and the lighting of the Civic Center Complex, followed by the parade. Our New Year’s Eve celebration starts at 7 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Findlay Toyota Center parking lot. Enjoy activities, games, contests, s’mores prepared by the Central Arizona Fire & Medical firefighters and a huge bonfire. At 8:30 p.m. we’ll light up the first of two fireworks shows, bringing in the year 2020 with the second show at midnight.
Coming up on Jan. 4 is the Polar Bear Splash. This event brings out the brave men and women who are willing to jump into our Mountain Valley Splash pool in the dead of winter. The public is welcome to attend and cheer on these hardy souls as well as enjoy a free pancake breakfast and hot chocolate. Do you feel brave enough to battle the freezing water? If you get a chance to go, you might even see me down at the pool giving it a shot.
I am excited as well as terrified to report I have been selected by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Arizona to be a “celebrity” dancer for their upcoming fundraising event Dancing For the Stars. This involves my dancing partner Jamie Procknow coming up with an entertaining dance for the audience, all while trying to raise as much money as possible for the clubs. I absolutely cannot dance a lick, but I am committed to such a great event and trying to do all that I can to raise as much money as possible.
This event is responsible for raising, in one day, more than a third of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Arizona’s annual operating budget. If you are interested in finding out more or donating to this great cause, please visit www.dancingforthestars.net.
The theme of this edition of Prescott LIVING is Everyone Can Be A Hero. I truly believe that if more people take a few minutes out of their busy day and try and do something nice for just one person, our community would be better off. I recently visited a Prescott Valley resident who just turned 100 years old. This woman told me that the secret to such a long and eventful life is waking up happy and trying to be nice to everyone you meet. These are truly words to live by and should be considered by all.
For more information on Town events, please visit www.pvaz.net. I wish everyone a happy holiday season and hope that 2020 is the best year ever for you and your family. I know Prescott Valley is looking forward to 2020 and all of the exciting changes and new events sure to come.