Summerlin residents celebrate holidays

Thousands of Summerlin residents recently attended the 17th annual Hometown Holidays event at The Gardens Park and Community Center.

The event, which transformed the park into a winter wonderland, featured horse-drawn carriage rides, candy land train rides, sugar cookie decorating, children's arts and crafts projects, musical performances, face painting and visits with Santa, Mrs. Claus and other children's characters.

The first Hometown Holidays event was held in 1994 -- just three years after the first family moved to Summerlin.

According to Kevin Orrock, executive vice president of master-planned communities for The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Summerlin, these early resident activities and events helped form the robust social infrastructure for which Summerlin is known.

"There isn't another master-planned community in Southern Nevada that offers more resident programming than Summerlin," he said.

Resident programming is coordinated by The Summerlin Council, the nonprofit arm of the Summerlin Community Association that oversees the community's special events, social programs, sports leagues and more.

These special resident-only programs are part of the Summerlin lifestyle that comes standard with a home purchase in the community.

For more information on Summerlin, visit summerlin.com or become a fan of the community on Facebook.