Carson City Parks, Recreation, & Open Space is hosting Homestead Holidays at Silver Saddle Ranch, Friday through Sunday, Dec. 10-12 from 5-8 p.m. Residents are invited to swing by for an old fashioned, country-style Christmas on the ranch. Festivities include mule-driven wagon rides, live music, children’s story-time, a craft market, chili, hot festive drinks for the family and adults, Christmas Trees for Charity raffle, and an appearance by Santa Claus. Children can even drop off their letters to Santa for direct delivery to the North Pole. To top it all off, the ranch is strung up with over two miles of LED Christmas lights, according to Dan Earp, recreation superintendent. He said the idea for the celebration came in 2018 and 2019, about the same time as the city started hosting BOOnanza for Halloween, and other similar celebrations. “We weren’t really doing special events for the community, and we felt like that was part of our mission in the Parks and Rec Department,” Earp said. At the time, employees commented how cool Christmas lights would look at Silver Saddle Ranch, and the idea took root from there. This will be the second annual Homestead Holidays, following the first in 2019. The city cancelled the celebration in 2020 due to the pandemic. Luckily, Earp said Parks and Recreation is picking up right where they left off. Silver Saddle Ranch is located on 2648 Carson River Road on the east side of Prison Hill. Parking is limited, so a shuttle will run from overflow parking on the 5th Street Trailhead to the ranch. Residents may also park at Eagle Valley Middle School and walk up to the trailhead to take the shuttle. For information on the event, visit www.carson.org/homesteadholidays.
