Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrive to the village of New Richmond during the Christmas parade Dec. 13.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrive to the village of New Richmond during the Christmas parade Dec. 13.

By Kristin Rover
Sun staff

Rain put a damper on the annual River Village Christmas festival in New Richmond.

On Friday, dozens of residents came out to participate in the festivities, but the continuous rain on Saturday forced organizers to cancel most of the events.

Gary Skeene, one of the event organizers, said they had a nice turnout Friday and everything went according to plan.

There was a new Christmas parade, the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, a visit from Santa and carols on Friday night.

Bobbi Phillips, of New Richmond, said she lives in town and comes to the Christmas event every year.

Phillips said she likes to bring her daughter, Sydney, to see Santa.

Carol Corbin, of New Richmond, said she thinks River Village Christmas is a nice event to have each year.

“I just like to meet people and see friends,” Corbin said.

Skeene said the temperature wasn’t bad on Saturday but the rain made it miserable.

“It was a hard decision to cancel,” Skeene siad. “But about 10 or 11 we cancelled everything. It was just raining too much.

Skeene said the only thing that went off on Saturday was Breakfast with Santa. He said next year they are hoping to find a place to hold more of the activities inside.

“We talked about, if possible, getting the Boys and Girls Club so things will be inside,” Skeene said.

The event is normally held the second weekend of December each year.

New Richmond Mayor Ramona Carr said she enjoys having New Richmond River Village Christmas each year.

“I like to see the town lit up,” Carr said.

She said the businesses do a good job of decorating and welcoming people in for the festival.

For more information about River Village Christmas, or other events in New Richmond visit www.newrichmond.org.