The parade started on North Main Street Davidson and headed south through downtown. More photos below. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

With sun shining and temperatures in the high 50s, more than 2,300 marchers walked, dance, tumbled and rode from Davidson to Cornelius in the 29th annual North Mecklenburg Christmas Parade. Read the full story

Carolers sang music of the season in front of a vacant storefront on North Main Street Thursday night. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Thousands of people were in Davidson Thursday night for the opening night of the 2011 Christmas in Davidson festival. Organizers said it looked like an unusually large crowd for opening night, and they had high hopes for a record turnout the next two nights. In past years 20,000 people have come to town for the three nights of food, entertainment, contests, carriage rides, and holiday cheer. Read the full story

It could’ve been me. I easily could’ve been the one behind the wheel when a college professor was struck in downtown Davidson recently.

I watch cautiously for pedestrians and stop for them whenever I see them. But that’s the problem: we don’t always see them. Especially on a dark and rainy night, the kind of night when the beloved father and math professor was struck, while crossing the street in a highly marked crosswalk. He died more than a week later and our community mourns the loss of a respected and valued member, while those of us who are willing to admit it may be thinking, “It could’ve been me who took his life.” Read the full story

The temporary rink is being set up at South Main Square, near Campania Cafe. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

You’ve probably never seen a skating rink like the one at South Main Square for Christmas in Davidson this week. It arrived on a truck Thursday, measures 28 feet wide by 64 feet long, and is surrounded by railings. Like any skating rink, if you tried to walk on it, you’d probably wind up on your back side.

But this rink has a high-tech secret. It’s not ice – not the H₂0 kind anyway. It’s plastic “synthetic ice” that those in regular ice skates should find just as slippery as the real thing, said Mike Postlewait, who was installing the surface Thursday morning. Read the full story

The parade begins in Davidson at 1 pm Saturday and will cause detours from Main and Griffith streets. Click image to download a map.

Here’s a little advance warning: N.C. 115 through Cornelius and Davidson and parts of Griffith Street in Davidson and Catawba Avenue in Cornelius will be closed this Saturday afternoon, Dec. 3, for the 29th annual North Mecklenburg Christmas Parade. More than 2,300 participants are expected for the annual event.

NC 115 will be completely closed between noon and 3 p.m. from Beaty Street north of Davidson south to Washam Potts Road, south of downtown Cornelius. Read the full story

Updated 3:20 p.m.
An equipment upgrade interrupted internet access and telephone lines for “several thousand” MI-Connection customers overnight Wednesday and some in Davidson were without service for part of the day. The good news, according to the Mooresville-based company, is that the upgrade should improve internet speeds for customers in Davidson and Cornelius. Read the full story

Geese have become a problem at Roosevelt Wilson Park, the town says. (Jay Wilson/DavidsonNews.net)

The Town of Davidson has hired a Charlotte company called Goose Busters!to help with a perennial problem at Roosevelt Wilson Park: Too many Canada geese and what they leave behind. (Did you know geese can drop a pound of poop daily?)

Beginning Thursday, Dec. 1, and continuing three times a week for several weeks, the company will use trained herding dogs to shoo the birds away and will treat goose eggs to prevent geese from nesting in the park, which is off Griffith Street in Davidson. The town says the campaign won’t kill any geese. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

After a year of work, consultants on Wednesday will unveil a funding strategy for the proposed Red Line commuter rail project from Charlotte to Mooresville. Their report will come at a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission at 5:30 Wednesday at Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center in Charlotte.

Officials and consultants also will share their draft financing plan with local officials and citizens at a public meeting in Mooresville on Dec. 13. Read the full story