Giant Christmas Cards on Display

Claysburg's giant-sized Christmas cards are once again on display at the Claysburg Community Park.

This is a tradition, along with the tree lighting, that goes back to 1971.

It all began when the Claysburg-Kimmel Alumni Association promoted the idea of displaying giant-sized Christmas cards at the General Refractories Co. Claysburg Plant in the center of town along Bedford Street in 1971.

This year marks the 53rd year of giant-sized Christmas cards. Community groups, churches and other organizations set-up cards, and General Refractories Company supplied the wiring and electricity for the cards. At first a tree was cut each year and placed in the center of the card display, but after the first several years, a 6-foot tree was planted. The display was put up annually at the General Refractories property and later moved to the McCabe Trucking property until the Claysburg Community Park was built. Now the display is on the park property along Route 220. Along with the card display, the Alumni initially went Christmas caroling from Claysburg to Sproul on hay wagons. The Alumni also sang Christmas carols in front of the First National Bank of Claysburg on Bedford Street. In the 1970s, there were as many as 40 cards displayed.