The holidays are coming albeit a day later than planned in Royal Oak. Royal Oak’s annual ice rink will be frozen and in place ready for the public on Friday. City officials decided Tuesday to push the event back a day from its original Thursday spot on the calendar due to a forecast that includes possible rain showers, high winds followed by a late snow shower, according to Accuweather.
Friday’s temperatures should be similar but without the threat of high winds. “With a lot of thought and consideration, we are moving The Lighting of the Park ceremony in Downtown Royal Oak from this Thursday, Nov 21 to Friday, Nov. 22 due to potential rain and wind gusts for Thursday,” a release from City Hall Tuesday afternoon stated.
The day will feature entertainment, food and fun beginning at 4 p.m. but it’s just the “tip of the iceberg” of holiday events that will encompass downtown Royal Oak.
Event organizer, Jon Witz, expects the third year of the rink to be more exciting than the previous as the downtown business owners continue to find ways to create more holiday excitement. “We’ve changed the traditional tree lighting in Royal Oak. I’d say we’ve enhanced it,” Witz said.
“We’ve enhanced it by having a whole lighting of Centennial Commons. We’re going to light up all the trees and accentuate the lighting on the historic oak tree that has been in Royal Oak probably since the 1940s. We’ve worked with English Gardens and have some spectacular additional li.