BEN WHEELER, Texas - Santa Claus comes to town on Monday, December 8, accompanied by a lighted parade, music from the Van High School choir, a tree-lighting ceremony, and more.

Santa will arrive in a sleigh at the Pickin' Porch and firehouse park complex for the community festivities that also include refreshments, a mini snow machine, and a chance for kids to get their photos made with the "jolly old elf" himself. It all happens from 6-9 p.m. downtown.

Parade participants, so far, include Above & Beyond Paint & Body, Big A's Videos, Door Control #1 and #2, First Baptist Church, First State Bank, Martins Mill High School band, Mooseburg Insurance, RMT Trucking, Sam's Deli, Van High School band, Wood County Electric Cooperative, a double-decker bus, fire engines, cheerleaders, mud bog/reindeer, and Santa and his sleigh.

In the spirit of the sea- son, one of the event's sponsors, First State Bank of Ben Wheeler, also hosts an Angel Giving Tree to help provide gifts for children in need. Stop by the bank on Highway 64 to select a labeled tag from the tree that notes a child's age, gender and gift wish.

Then purchase a gift for that child, wrap it, and bring it back to First State Bank. Hours are 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday.

Ben Wheeler Development Company (BWDC), which arranged the event with Santa, is returning the southern Van Zandt County community to the way it looked in 1935 and bringing new businesses, cultural attractions, and a new attitude to the area. The project will take at least three years or more to recapture the old-fashioned atmosphere with an even longer timeline for some projects.

In a community with a thousand or so nearby residents, there will be music venues, new restaurants, new shops, and a fully restored downtown park complete with gazebos as part of the plans.

Ben Wheeler, named for the first man to carry mail into Van Zandt County, thrived during the late 1800s and early 1900s as families arrived in horse-drawn wagons, rode horses, or walked to visit, get mail, buy supplies, and sell or trade goods at one of the several general stores.

The community included churches, barbers, blacksmiths, tailors, saddle and shoe shop, several gins and mills, a bank, the Berry Resort Hotel, boarding houses, a movie theater, lumber yard, a garage with gas pumps eventually, cafes, a school, and even a college at one time called the Alamo Institute. Ben Wheeler shrank after World War II as many people left for large cities to find work.

For more information about First State Bank's Angel Giving Tree, call 903-833-5861 or 903-833-1070 email j.mcmahon@bwdc.net, or go to www.benwheelertx.com.