Ava Jones, daughter of Jennifer Paisley and Matt Jones of Tamaqua, has been named the 2017 Little Miss Spirit of Christmas.

Balloting for the contest, which is open to girls in third through fifth grade who reside within the Tamaqua Area School District, was held at the Wells Fargo branch office from Nov. 6 through Nov. 17. A total of seven girls provided essays on “What the Spirit of Christmas Means to Me.” The contest is held annually in conjunction with the Tamaqua Spirit of Christmas Festival, which will begin Nov. 29 and conclude on Dec. 3.

Ava, a fourth-grade student at Tamaqua Elementary School, wrote, “Christmas means family time, a day of laughs, and making memories with your family and friends. I love Christmas.”

Other contestants were: Clare Boyce, Tamaqua Elementary; Avery Deitrich, West Penn Elementary; Jordan Rehrig, Tamaqua Elementary; Destiny Steinmetz, Tamaqua Elementary; MaKayla Whittaker, St. Jerome Regional School; and Alivia Woodring, Tamaqua Elementary.

Little Miss Spirit will participate in many of the activities slated during the Spirit of Christmas Festival. All of the girls will participate in the Tamaqua Santa Parade on Friday, Dec. 1. The parade will start at 6 p.m. in the area of the Tamaqua Borough Garage on East Broad Street.

After the parade, Santa and Mrs. Claus will hold a reception at the Tamaqua Community Art Center, 125 Pine St.

The festival starts Wednesday with a Mistletoe Reception, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Flat Iron Building at 101 E. Broad St.

Multiple events are planned from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, including expanded shopping opportunities, including an artisan fair, a cookie contest, a magic show and live entertainment.

Breakfast with Santa will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. on Saturday. The day’s activities will also include a kids’ crafts event at the art center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and an open house at Stonehedge Gardens in South Tamaqua from noon to 4 p.m.

The Tamaqua Community Theatre will present three performances of “the Nutcracker,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and a matinee at 3 p.m. on Sunday. All shows will be at “The Stitch” in the art center.

The festival wraps up Dec. 3 with the lighting of the community Christmas tree at 6 p.m. in Depot Square Park.