By Michael Conlon, Editorial Intern
With the holiday season upon us and COVID-19 still very much part of our lives, this holiday season is going to look different. That being said, the West Des Moines area still has a lot of great opportunities to celebrate the season and spread holiday joy, not COVID-19. Although many of us will be spending this holiday season differently, the West Des Moines Chamber can give you plenty of ideas to enjoy the holidays with your loved ones.
If you are looking for a night out, Valley Junction is the stop for you. Valley Junction is having the Jingle in the Junction happening 5-9pm on the dates of December 5th, 12th, and 19th. The streets will be lined with countless Christmas lights, Santa and Mrs. Claus caroling, and free horse rides! The Jingle in the Junction is always a great time to bring family and friends to Historic Valley Junction with tons of activities outdoors and plenty of restaurants and bars to enjoy your evening during the holidays. Jordan Creek Mall is another place Santa will be visiting. The Jordan Creek Mall can be your one stop shop for everything you need for the holidays, with plenty of stores to find the perfect gift for that special someone. Santa will be there to take pictures but this year there is also something new. You can take a virtual tour to the North Pole where Santa’s helpers have been working around the clock to prepare for Christmas. Sign up online to avoid waiting in long lines and guarantee your spot. The Jordan Creek Mall also has a coat and cold weather gear drive to give back to those in need, details can be found on the Jordan Creek website. If you are looking to test your knowledge of Christmas classic movies, Smash Park has a lot of events during the month of December. Wednesday the 16th is the “very festive Grinch Trivia” which is also live on Facebook where you can go head-to-head with your friends and see who really knows their movies. Prizes are awarded to the top five players. Smash Park is a great venue to have fun during the holidays along with serving festive holiday drinks. Cinemark Century 20 theater in Jordan Creek has a large selection of holiday movies for their comeback classics, a great opportunity for you and your family to get out of the house and enjoy classics. The West Des Moines Chamber itself has a handful of events this December. The DMARC Fun Holiday Food Drive 2020 is one of these events, where participants will decorate their car and drop off canned goods to The Hall, then have your ‘holiday wheels’ photo taken on December 17th from 11:00am-1:30pm to enter a competition for prizes and bragging rights! The West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Events Calendar can be found here.West Des Moines has a lot of great activities for the holidays. Regardless of how different the holidays may look this year, there are still a lot of ways to celebrate the season — especially in West Des Moines.