Openings remain for the sixth annual Winter Village featuring Santa and the MTSU Farm Animals, which will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 7, in the main arena at the Tennessee Livestock Center, 1720 Greenland Drive, in Murfreesboro.

Alanna Vaught, instructor in the School of Agriculture and whose agritourism club is sponsoring the Christmas-themed event, said it is important for people to make their guaranteed reservation to ensure your space for the children and adults planning to attend.

An MTSU agritourism class member assists a little boy in making a Christmas craft during the annual Winter Village, formerly called Christmas Village, held in December 2018 in the Tennessee Livestock Center. This year’s event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 7. (Submitted photo)

Free parking will be available for the event, formerly called Christmas Village, where children have an opportunity to learn about agriculture, make Christmas crafts and see live animals and Santa and Mrs. Claus, all under one roof. To find the location and parking, visit http://bit.ly/MTSUParkingMap.

To register in advance, go to https://tinyurl.com/uhtpboe online.

The event will include farm animals, photo opportunity with Santa, MTSU chocolate milk and cookies, straw maze, two crafts, Little Acres and more. Little Acres is an interactive exhibit allowing children to be a farmer for a day.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 3 to 12 (or free with the donation of three nonperishable food items) and free for children ages 2 and under.

MTSU then-freshman animal science major Jessika Benson, seated and second from left, assists children visiting the Little Acres area during the December 2018 Christmas Village in the Tennessee Livestock Center. Children could collect fruit and vegetables, milk a cow and more in the area. Now called Winter Village, the 2019 event will be held Saturday, Dec. 7. (Submitted photo)

All food items will be donated to the MTSU Student Food Pantry. Food items needed the most include breakfast items, especially cereal and toaster pastries, canned fruit, macaroni and cheese cups, pasta and rice sides, canned pasta, canned chicken, peanut butter and trail mix.

The agritourism club has provided some of the largest donations of nonperishable food items to the MTSU Student Food Pantry.

For more information, contact James Scott at 803-394-5971 (cell) or jds2ei@mtmail.mtsu.edu or Vaught at Alanna.Vaught@mtsu.edu.

Including agritourism, MTSU has more than 300 combined undergraduate and graduate programs. The School of Agriculture is one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)