On Thursday, September 10, Mayor Tom Strobehn stood in a former bank building on NW Pacific Highway and cut the ribbon on Exit 16 Sips and Scoops. He praised owners Sam and Trista Glackler for the events they host and volunteer for. "It's very well known in the community," he said, as The Reflector reported.
Three months later, both men show up again on one list. The La Center Christmas Festival committee names Strobehn as co-chair and Sam Glackler as treasurer, 5K lead and Lions Club contact. The festival runs December 4 through 6, 2026. It's put together by the same small group of people who are opening businesses and breaking ground downtown, and that's why this year's version has more places to stop between events than last year's did.
The committee is a map of downtown
The festival committee reads like a directory of the people who keep La Center's core running. Kori Burke chairs it and handles marketing. Maggie Redden is the city representative for passports and the petting zoo, and Aaron Wilinson represents city public works. Andrew Cooper represents La Center Church, and KC Kasberg coordinates cadet volunteers and Paint the Plow.
That overlap shows up in the details. The Lions Club role sitting with Glackler matters because the Lions continue the Giving Tree tradition. Donations from Friday's Santa House Calls go to the Giving Tree and to Angels on Wheels. The money raised on Saturday stays local too. The Holiday Bazaar is a La Center Music Association fundraiser, and its proceeds support directors and students in the La Center School District's performing arts programs.
The three days, event by event
Every date below comes from the 2026 event pages posted by the festival and the La Center Music Association.
| Day | Event | Time | Where | Cost or note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Dec 4 | Santa House Calls | 4:30–8:30 p.m. | Homes inside La Center city limits | Free, donations welcome; request by Nov 27 |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Holiday Bazaar | 2026 hours not yet posted | La Center Middle School, 2001 NE Lockwood Creek Road | Free for shoppers |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Lighted Christmas Parade | Time TBD | Staging along 4th Street, then down Main Street | Free to enter a float or vehicle |
| Sun, Dec 6 | Santa Stride 5K Run/Walk | 1:30 p.m. start | Course marked through La Center | Free under 10, $20 ages 10–17, $35 adults |
| Sun, Dec 6 | Tree Lighting Festival & Vendor Fair | Noon–5:45 p.m. | E. 4th Street | Food vendors, hot cocoa, music |
| Sun, Dec 6 | Tree Lighting Ceremony | 5:00 p.m. | Downtown Plaza Tree | Free family event |
The festival homepage calls the 5K a Sunday morning event, but the Santa Stride race page and the homepage schedule both list a 1:30 p.m. start, so plan around 1:30. Every participant has to register. The festival says registration includes a holiday shirt and a finisher medal.
Two activities run all weekend. The Winter Wonderland Passport sends people to participating downtown merchants to collect stamps, and a completed passport goes into a drawing for gift baskets before the tree lighting. You can pick up passports at participating businesses during the festival. The La Center Library's holiday coloring contest has five age categories, with coloring sheets available at the library or online. The festival page gives the entry deadline as "Monday, December 1st" with no year, and December 1 is a Tuesday in 2026, so check the date with the library before turning in artwork.
Where the gaps in the schedule land this year
The schedule leaves room between events. Saturday has a daytime bazaar and an evening parade. On Sunday, the vendor fair opens at noon, the 5K starts at 1:30, and the tree doesn't light until 5. Those afternoon hours are where this year differs from past festivals, because downtown has two storefronts that weren't open last December.
Exit 16 Sips and Scoops, 305 NW Pacific Hwy. The Glacklers started Exit 16 as a production brewery in September 2020. They told The Reflector they had opportunities in Ridgefield and Castle Rock but stayed because "it's not Exit 16" anywhere else. The menu cooks the brewery's beer into dishes like beer cheese fondue. It also has handmade tortillas, savory waffles, house-made waffle cones and a rotating list of seasonal ice cream flavors, with pumpkin horchata on the opening menu. There's a dog-friendly patio. In the same story, Trista Glackler described what they hope the building becomes: "a landing spot. People come and explore La Center. I mean, the river's beautiful."
Exit 16's posted hours as of October:
- Monday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Tuesday: closed
- Wednesday and Thursday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Sunday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Those hours cover parade night and the whole Sunday program. Saturday's 10 p.m. close leaves time after the parade, and Sunday's 8 p.m. close runs well past the 5 p.m. ceremony.
The Sweet Collective, 103 E. Fourth St. Tracy Coiteux opened her dessert and coffee shop in April 2026 in the former Trellis building, at the corner of East Fourth Street and Aspen Avenue across from Sternwheeler Park. She told The Reflector that she wanted "to get some local bakers to be able to display their stuff in my store." In that May story, weekend hours were noon to 8 p.m. The shop is on E. Fourth Street, the same street as Sunday's vendor fair, so it's an easy place to warm up between the 5K finish and the tree lighting.
The two shops are a few blocks apart, one on Pacific Highway and one on Fourth Street, and both serve ice cream. One opened in spring and the other in early fall, so this is the first Christmas Festival where downtown has both.
Two plazas, one tree
The tree lighting happens at the Downtown Plaza Tree in the town square. The plaza in the Downtown 2.0 plans is a separate, future space on a different site.
ClarkCountyToday reported that La Center broke ground on Downtown 2.0 on September 17. The project expands downtown west of Northwest Pacific Highway along West Fifth Street, with commercial space, housing, pedestrian areas and connections to the East Fork Lewis River. Plans include a river overlook and plaza, forest trails, picnic areas and an ADA-accessible boardwalk. The same story reported $400,000 in state capital funding against a $3.5 million gap for the full infrastructure plan, and said the site is closed to the public during construction.
The overlook is still in the planning stage, and this year's tree lighting is set for the existing square. We wrote this summer about how La Center's downtown already works before any new plaza is finished. The festival weekend shows it, with a parade on 4th and Main, a vendor fair on E. 4th Street, and two new storefronts within walking distance.
Dates to put on the fridge now
The first deadline is the day after Thanksgiving:
- Friday, November 27: last day to request a Santa House Call. Visits are limited to homes inside La Center city limits.
- Early December: coloring contest entries go to the La Center Library. Confirm the exact deadline with the library.
- Friday, December 4, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Santa House Calls.
- Saturday, December 5: the Holiday Bazaar at La Center Middle School during the day, then the Lighted Christmas Parade in the evening. Check the parade page for the start time, which is still listed as TBD.
- Sunday, December 6: the vendor fair on E. 4th Street from noon, the Santa Stride 5K at 1:30 p.m., and the tree lighting at 5:00 p.m.
If you want to enter a lighted vehicle or float, the parade page takes free registrations. The festival also lists volunteer slots for parade setup, staging, 5K water stations and information booths. For more on the town beyond December, see our La Center neighborhood page.
At NW Luxury Group, we follow how new businesses like Exit 16 and The Sweet Collective, along with a project like Downtown 2.0, change what it's like to live near La Center's core. If you've been wondering what that means for your own home, get your instant home valuation and we'll go through the numbers with you.
