Holiday Season at MacArthur Center

By Guest Blogger – Karla Espino

This holiday season has been a busy one for Jpixx. Along with the rush of buying presents, decorating for the season and paying taxes.. a few of us have been out and about covering the many events MacArthur Center offers throughout the winter season.

The MacArthur on Ice and Winter Carnival just outside of the mall allows children from ages 1-92 to submerse themselves in a world separate from Norfolk. With a 55-foot-tall LED Ferris Wheel, Tilt-a-Whirl, ice skating rink, and more, it was easy to capture smiles and laughter in every frame we shot. From the first event of the season, the opening of the Ice Palace, to the last of the season, the Norfolk Admirals Cerebral Palsy Skate, we braved the cold (35 degrees some days!) to find each event warmed our hearts within minutes.

Enjoying the Tilt-a-Whirl

Family Skate while at MacArthur on Ice

Selfie with the WAVY team!

With 13+ different events scheduled, we divvied up the dates between Jon, Jessa and me – and Chandler signed up for the nightmare that is BLACK FRIDAY. It actually didn’t look too bad..

Carolers

Share the Spirit – $50 Gift Cards were randomly given out to MacArthur Center patrons, and an extra $25 was given for them to hand out to someone else of their choosing. You should have seen the look on some of their faces!!! Jon even had someone come up to him to ask who the mystery gifters were…. but he remained tight lipped.

Regardless of four different photographers individually at each event, we were easily able to create fluid content that captured the holiday season as it should be, full of joy! I did have the opportunity to work side by side with Jessa at my favorite event, Pet Photos with Santa. People crowded MacArthur Center on a Sunday night to watch their pets climb up on Santa’s lap dressed in ugly sweaters, antlers, tutus, etc. aside the Ice Palace.

One boy even brought his hedgehog!

Great family photo

If you watched our MacArthur Center Holiday Highlight above, you probably noticed clips from Signing Santa. I was not personally at this event but seeing the photos and videos while editing brought about an admiration for Karen Husselbee, Marketing Director at MacArthur Center. Karen is amazing at what she does and I’d like to thank her for allowing us to capture children and adults alike that do not experience your ‘typical’ day-to-day routine, and organizing events that allow them to meet similar individuals and communicate with their heroes, whether it is Santa or the Norfolk Admirals.

Signing carols to the children

Signing with Santa

Enjoying the Ice Palace

The ladies and gentlemen of Cerebral Palsy of Virginia join the Norfolk Admirals on the ice rink under magic snowfall.

While the holiday season can be crazy, it is events like these that allow all of us at Jpixx to step back, focus on the different and amazing people of Norfolk, and capture their lives creatively.