EPHRATA — The candy cane walk was very popular. The little girl in the pink dress asked if she could go back just one more time.

Mom said no. “We’ve done that a hundred times already,” Mom said.

That was maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but kids all the way up to middle school did the candy cane walk, one of many attractions at the Ephrata Recreation Center Saturday afternoon. The craft afternoon was part of the annual town holiday celebration, Miracle on Main Street.

Kids could make sparkly Christmas ornaments with stick-on beads and popsicle sticks, Christmas cards with markers, stickers and beads, and holiday necklaces by stringing beads. And they could get their picture taken with Santa, who was there for just that purpose and to be consulted on Christmas wishes. Some kids didn’t mind at all – the little girl in the white dress and bonnet with elaborate red embroidery liked Santa. She was perfectly happy to get her picture taken with him.

But the little guy in the white sweater didn’t like the whole idea, not the guy in the red suit, not the idea of sitting in his lap, not any of it. Two-year-old Marcellus De La Rosa didn’t like it any better even when his mom Velma knelt right beside them. A family member standing nearby said Marcellus didn’t like Santa last year either.

The afternoon also included the Jingle Bell Fun Run, said Rita Witte, one of the organizers. “If you’re not into running you can walk it,” she told a family who was new to Miracle on Main Street. They declined.

The run was followed by the illuminated parade. December is notorious for bad weather, but the parade always draws a crowd, even when it’s pouring rain like it was during the 2015 parade, the Chamber members said.

Miracle on Main Street dates to 2005, and the realization from Chamber members that Ephrata had plenty of events in the spring and summer, but nothing around Christmas. There was some concern it would have to be scaled back in 2016 to due to budget concerns, but the town’s volunteers stepped up.

“Awesome volunteers,” Witte said. Volunteers came from Columbia Ridge and Grant elementary schools, New Life Christian School and St. Rose of Lima Catholic school, the Columbia Basin Hospital Foundation and others, along with volunteers from the Chamber.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].