Christmas event’s relocation met with positive reviews

By Kelli Nesbitt, Parks & Recreation Marketing Coordinator

As Santa heads back to the North Pole to prepare for his Christmas Eve deliveries, the Parks and Recreation staff is cleaning up, repairing lights and picking up remnants of the good times left behind from last weekend’s Christmas in the Park event.

We enjoyed watching families revel under the giant Christmas tree and delight in the festive light displays and activities. Everyone seemed to have a positive response to Christmas in the Park’s return to Stephen C. Beachy Central Park after four years at Wolf Pen Creek Park.

Since it began in 1984, the event has evolved from a small light display into a beloved community tradition. We’ve added a few activities — a petting zoo, holiday vendor village, and snow slide — but it essentially remains the same program at heart. We strive to handcraft our light displays with the same loving care and spirit of the great Christmas in the Park teams of the past.

Regardless of whether our ideas have been successful or not, we’ve listened to your feedback and made adjustments, including moving the event back to its original location. The transition was an unmitigated success with more than 15,000 guests savoring the holiday sights and sounds during the three days of celebration.

Here’s a glimpse at the numbers from Dec. 4-6:

• 1,000 gallons of hot cocoa served.
• 15,000 Christmas cookies devoured.
• 60,000 pounds of ice used for the snow slide.
• 9,000 candy canes handed out by Santa.
• 1 million+ Christmas lights.

While the organized activities are finished for this year, our beautiful lights will be displayed from 6-11 p.m. each night through New Year’s Day.

We’d love to hear what you think about the move back to Central Park. Just leave your comment below or on the city’s Facebook page.

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