The quiet little town of Cannon Falls bustled to a start on Saturday, November 26th, in honor of the town’s 27th annual Deck the Falls day. The all-day celebration aimed at getting the citizens of Cannon Falls into their quaint community — supporting local businesses and getting into the Christmas spirit. 

Arranged by the Cannon Falls Chamber of Commerce, Deck the Falls occurs yearly on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, casting the former holiday out and plunging the town into the Christmas season. Wreaths are hung across the two main intersections downtown, light-up snowflakes are attached to each light post, and Christmas trees are put up in nearly every downtown shop. Even without snow, it’s clear this town is ready for the holiday season. 

Throughout the day, businesses in the Cannon Falls area hosted special Deck the Falls events in their shops. Many locations, such as Althoff’s Hardware and Family Salon, offered sales and deals on their products. Other shops hosted activities: Cannon Valley specialties set up a T-shirt painting craft for children, Sweet Kneads bakery had a “Candy Cane Pull” game with prizes, and CannonBelles, a local coffee shop, connected with younger residents by hosting Santa and Mrs. Claus to listen to children’s Christmas wishes. Cannon Falls student Lilly Wagenknect took part in the daytime festivities and expressed her excitement: “All day the town was full of activity. It was so fun to see the community support the small businesses of Cannon Falls all day.”

Starting at 5:00 p.m., people lined the streets to watch the parade. Led by police cars and firetrucks that had been festively decked out in twinkling lights, groups from the community marched down the parade route alongside trailers cleverly disguised as sleds, trains, or winter wonderlands. Many of the activities and clubs at Cannon Falls High School walked in the parade, such as the Bomber Dance Team and the cast from last year’s Frozen theater production. Bowen Maki, who played Olaf in Frozen, took part in the day’s activities and shared his experience in the parade: “I had a great time at the parade and we had fun being on the float. People were yelling our character’s names and waving aggressively at us, so obviously I had to wave aggressively back at them. Seeing so many children so happy to see Frozen characters made me happy I participated in the float.” 

The wonderful day was rounded out, as it always is, with the lighting of the community Christmas tree near John Burch Park, and, of course, fireworks. The day’s raffle winners were announced and given their prizes. Maki described the conclusion of events: “Being downtown was also fun. They gave out apple cider so there was a very long line for it but it was worth it because then we could watch the lighting of the tree with a drink in our hand. A whole bunch of people counted down to the lighting of the tree which was shortly followed by a colorful show of fireworks.” After the firework show, Cannon Falls residents went home with a further sense of community and celebrated the beginning of the holiday season.