The Mission and History of the Holiday Extravanza
Mission
The Holiday Extravaganza mission is to bring together Oakland County cities and townships to CELEBRATE the holiday season in diversity and sharing to form a true county.
Holiday Extravaganza is presented by four communities. They include Auburn Hills, Pontiac, Waterford and White Lake.
There are two active committees comprised of citizens throughout Oakland County:
- The Advisory board: Responsible for vision fundraising and direction
- The Strategic Committee: Responsible for the events
Our Goal is to invite all:
- Businesses
- Churches
- Citizens
- Legislators
- Schools
- Volunteer Agencies
The Holiday Extravaganza in Pontiac has coordinated and provided leadership for the parade since 1981 which, at that time, included one fire truck from the City of Pontiac and one high school marching band.
Today, not only do we have a parade, we also have a tree lighting ceremony, community caroling and fireworks. In 2004, all high school and middle school bands from the City of Pontiac participated. Some additional Pontiac School District representation included high school JROTC teams, cheerleading teams and bilingual department-Hispanic among youth participants. We were also pleased to have community involvement from the Pontiac Rotary Club, Pontiac Lions Club, Clinton Valley Council Boy Scouts of America, Michigan Metro Girl Scouts, Welcome Missionary Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Oakland County Lighthouse, Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency, United Way North Oakland and the Pontiac Youth Neighborhood Network.
Throughout the years we have been able to organize, coordinate and implement the following Holiday Extravaganza events:
- Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony: First year held, 25 people in attendance. In 2004, over 550 people in attendance. In 2004, we added a fireworks show following the lighting of the tree.
- Annual Community Caroling: First year held, 30 people in attendance. In 2004 we filled the entire First Presbyterian Church with approximately 650 people in attendance.
- The Annual Parade: First year held, approximately 200 people in attendance. In 2004, the estimated number of people in attendance to watch the parade was nearly 8,000 plus over 300 volunteers.
Our greatest SUCCESS... bring people together to CELEBRATE the holiday season! |
