Even as they were working to help stage this week’s Veterans Day events, City of Andalusia employees have been hard at work getting ready for Christmas in Candyland.

Mayor Earl Johnson said earlier this week that one of the main projects has been the construction of the Polar Bear Slide that is going to be much bigger and faster this year.

“It looks like we’re building a rocket launcher out there,” he quipped.

What locals can see between City Hall and Springdale is the base for the slide, which will be 10 feet higher than the one last year, and 30 feet longer.

“Most of the support is being constructed of steel, so we don’t have to rebuild it every year,” he said. “Some of it will still be made from wood this year, but we’ll add more steel next year. This will save us a lot of money in construction costs in the long run.”

The Polar Bear slide was just one of many activities designed to entertain children and their parents during the weeks of December, when the city and Chamber of Commerce stage Candyland, designed to improve the local quality of life, and attract people to the city in hopes they’ll shop and spend entertainment dollars here.

City workers have already poured a slab that will be the base of the ice skating rink in winter, also saving annual construction costs. The tree has been erected in the court square, and there are snowflakes already on light posts throughout the city.

“There will be a lot of work going on in town next couple of weeks,” Johnson said. “We want to get everything decorated up and looking nice. It will be an exciting time.”