A seemingly endless sea of excited children poured into Downtown Clearwater with parents in tow to experience the rare miracle of snow in Florida. Miracle on Cleveland Street returned for its second year on December 11th, and was spectacularly successful, exceeding the expectations set by last year’s inaugural event. Kids braved lines a block long to take a ride down the giant toboggan slide in the middle of Cleveland Street.
The St. Pete/Clearwater area will be draped in white this Holiday season by something other than the gleaming, powder-perfect sand that lines its 35 miles of award-winning coast line.
Although, the “Miracle on Cleveland St.” and the city’s “Holiday Light Up” in Clearwater’s Cleveland Street District (Downtown), has been postponed until December 11th due to a 70% chance of rain forecast, Winter Wonderland still intends to open the Christmas Village as scheduled on December 4th – 20th, weather permitting.
Oil is not the only thing that does not mix with water… neither does snow apparently. Due to a forecasted 70% chance of rain that could turn 40 tons of snow into ice, the event organizers of Miracle on Cleveland Street in Downtown Clearwater decide to postpone the event until next week, Friday, December 11th from 5-10 pm.
On Friday, December 4th, the Miracle on Cleveland Street, which served as the pilot for the highly successful 4th Friday series, will return again for its second year.
Last year, two tons of snow was trucked into Downtown Clearwater, to create the miracle of a “white-Christmas” in Florida. There was a ten-foot toboggan slide set up for children to play on, as well as the Clearwater Community Volunteer’s choochoo train. Santa and the Snow Princess were in attendance, along with Mayor Hibbard. Approximately 3,000 people flocked to Cleveland Street for the holiday magic.
December 5th 2008, the Clearwater Downtown Partnership hosted its inaugural “Miracle on Cleveland Street” in conjunction with The City of Clearwater’s annual “Holiday Light Up”. Adults and Children flocked the street to bask in the 2 tons of snow that blanketed the 500 block of Cleveland Street.