Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

Now that Halloween is over, many cities are gearing up for the next round of family events that will take place during December in celebration of Christmas. But one city has already been hard at work since September on its Christmas installation.

Sapulpa is investing $1 million into this year's Christmas display in their downtown area. The installation is a permanent structure of iron beams totaling 150 linear feet. It will be called THE CHRISTMAS CHUTE. The structure begins at one end of Dewey Street and travels all the way through downtown to end at the courthouse. A 30-foot TREE OF HOPE will be planted at the courthouse lawn.

Starting November 3 and running through January 1, the chute will be open for all ages to enjoy. Hours of operation are 8 am to 11 pm daily. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays there will also be games and family-oriented activities. Santa Claus will be on-site at Martha's Corner. There is also a Cookie Crawl. 

More than 300 volunteers will create various scenes and characters along the route for photo opportunities and to highlight Christmas traditions and history.

According to Sapulpa city officials, no other city has ever undertaken  such a large Christmas project within Oklahoma or elsewhere. Coming out of the pandemic, the city wanted to do something "really special and really extravagant" says Will Berry, who is credited with the idea of the chute. Berry says Sapulpa officials voted on the building of the chutre because they realized they could utilize for decades to come, with new additions along the way.