There was a definite chill in the air on Friday night, as vendors set up on the street, stores stayed open late, the clip-clop of horses’ hooves could be heard … and Santa made an appearance.

It was all part of the annual Old Fashioned Downtown Christmas hosted in Oakdale, with residents enjoying holiday music, food, options for gift giving and more. There was face painting, a petting zoo, the horse-drawn wagon rides and some costumed characters ambling about.

A portion of North Third Avenue was shut down for several hours to account for the festivities. This annual tradition is a way of signaling the official start of the holiday season in the ‘Cowboy Capital of the World.’