MOSES LAKE — Families are invited to decorate cookies, watch a classic holiday movie or two, get pictures with Santa and – actually, that’s just the beginning of the activities at the second Family Holiday Festival, from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Moses Lake High School, 803 East Sharon Ave.

Most activities will be in the MLHS commons, with the movies, including the 1964 classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” in the theater. Santa will be available for pictures, and to hear Christmas wishes, in the library.

Admission is free, along with all activities including the pictures with Santa, said Jessica Merritt, who works in the MLHS library and is one of the organizers.

There’s also a potato bar (with potatoes donated by Simplot) in the cafeteria and a petting zoo in the courtyard in back. The petting zoo is sponsored by the high school’s FFA chapter. And there are all kinds of crafts, like making ornaments, and games, like a variation of the classic beanbag toss using fake snowballs. “There’s just a lot,” Merritt said. There’s also the possibility of live music. A local artist, Christopher Palmer, painted and donated a cutout board where kids (and adults) can get their pictures taken as Rudolph, Santa and Hermey the elf from the Rudolph movie.

All of the games and crafts are the work of clubs and classes around the high school and at the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center (CB Tech). “It has definitely grown this year,” Merritt said.

The first Family Holiday Carnival grew out of a tradition from Merritt’s own family; her parents always had pictures of the kids with Santa. “I thought it would be fun to pass on that tradition to the kids in this community.”

So there was Santa, and a few games, and the petting zoo. But the crowd was much bigger than anybody anticipated. “It went way better than we expected,” she said.

“So this year we knew we had to up our game.” More classes and clubs got involved, with more games and crafts. The event spilled out of the library to fill the commons.

It’s been in the planning stages for a couple of months, Merritt said, and many of the MLHS students have been looking forward to it. “They’re so excited to get to come and help. They’ve been asking (when it’s scheduled) since September.”

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