New decorative present stacks adorn both sides of the entrance to Pendleton Town Hall.

Scott Slade | The Times-Post

Marissa Skaggs, president of the Pendleton Town Council, works with fellow volunteers Brenda Daugherty, a member of the town’s Placemaking Committee, and Linda Kelly to install new Christmas decorations downtown.

Submitted

Town, local groups add decorations to the streetscape

PENDLETON — Downtown Pendleton has a new, more festive look for the upcoming holiday season.
Thanks to Main Street Pendleton, new holiday decorations have begun popping up throughout the downtown area over the past week.
Artificial Christmas trees lining the downtown streets, and Christmas gift packages outside Pendleton Town Hall, are part of the decorations placed by the organization in the hopes of making the town more festive for the upcoming holidays.
The artificial Christmas trees have been placed in planters along Pendleton Avenue and State Street. The planters were installed early this year and are being used by Main Street Pendleton for the holiday season. The organization plans to use the artificial trees from year to year.
“We were looking around for how we could utilize those for the holidays, and Main Street Pendleton decided that given its mission and its focus on the downtown district, that it would decorate those for the holiday,” said Carey Craig, town community development coordinator and Main Street Pendleton executive director.
For Craig and the organization, the goal was to enhance Pendleton’s streetside landscape for the holidays.
Through existing donations, Main Street Pendleton was able to purchase 32 artificial trees to go in each planter, along with other decorations for the trees, and other areas of downtown.
The trees were placed last week, and greenery was added to the bottom of each tree on Monday. The trees are expected to be fully decorated by today, Thursday, Nov. 9.
Volunteers from Main Street Pendleton, Pendleton Business Association and Pendleton’s Placemaking Committee joined in the decorating.
Going hand-in-hand with the town decorating project is the organization’s annual Wreath Contest.
Vintage Christmas wreaths can be found throughout downtown at participating businesses, and help add to the festive downtown feel for the holiday season leading up to Christmas in Pendleton on Saturday.
The decorating project is just one of many upcoming projects planned by Main Street Pendleton, according to Craig.
In the coming weeks, Main Street Pendleton plans to rebrand with a new logo and design, and an update to it existing website with information on future 2024 projects.
“We exist to restore and revitalize downtown Pendleton through economic development and creating a sense of community in the downtown district,” Craig said.