MONROE — As much as Cathy Murphy loves the Christmas parade in Waxhaw, she always thought the town should do more during the holiday season.

“We have our parade and then we’re done,” she said. “I come from a retail and manufacturing background so I understand what the holiday season means to merchants.”

Through a series of collaborative efforts from town committees, boards, organizations and residents, the holiday spirit will hang around a little longer this year — 12 days to be exact.

Today kicks of the 12 Days of Christmas in Waxhaw with a Christmas tree lighting at 5 p.m. downtown. For every Friday, Saturday and Sunday after that for the next four weeks, holiday festivities will light up the downtown, including a treasure hunt, a wreath-making workshop and carriage rides.

At its Nov. 10 meeting, the town Board of Commissioners approved spending $12,000 for Christmas lighting for the event. The plan is to scale up the event over three years.

This is the only weekend for the treasure hunt, which will have residents find clues at 12 area stores and get stamps from the store employees. Participating stores include PJ’s Designs, Fuzion Hair Design, Southsiders and Stewart’s Village Gallery.

Once participants have eight stamps, they can go to the Waxhaw Woman’s Club to claim a prize. Individuals will get to pull an envelope from a tree and inside is a card that tells them what gift they can claim.

Lisa Giovanniello said the Waxhaw Business Association has already “ponied up 160 prizes,” including a free car detailing, Christmas ornaments, jars of jam and holiday cds.

Resident Denise Kuntz said the town has been preparing for the opening ceremony by decorating downtown window fronts, an idea that Commissioner Martin Lane suggested.

Various local civic and interest groups have made unique designs, Kuntz said, such as equestrian, nativity and train scenes. The Beautification Committee will judge the windows.

“We encourage people to come into town and look around and look at the windows,” she said. “They look amazing. We’re so proud of everybody.”

Another event planned for the 12 Days of Christmas will be a barbecue cook-off from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 20 between the fire department, police department, public service and Butch Kelly, who event organizer Lisa Thornton said is well known for his barbecue.

Visitors must pay $5 to eat but can make a donation of any amount. All money will go to Waxhaw Police Officer Richard Belk, who was injured in training and has had several operations to treat the effects of compartment syndrome.

“We have put a lot of effort into planning this and it’s going to be amazing,” Thornton said.

For a complete list of events, visit www.waxhaw.com and look at the town calendar.