I had so much going on this past weekend that I thought I’d make it into 3 posts.
Part 1 – Saturday and Christmas
If I could only pick two people in the world who would represent Christmas, I wouldn’t even hesitate. The two people that I would pick are my sister and her friend. Why? Well around 4 years ago there was a group of ladies in West Union that were talking about putting up some lights and decorations in the new park. They asked my sister if she would volunteer and the rest is history. Her and her friend not only volunteered, they live it! This small ‘extra’ activity on the side has grown into a very large project.
When I stopped in on Saturday to see how she was doing, I knew that they had a good start on the volunteer day when I drove under the three arches that welcome you as you drive into the park. These arches are only the beginning to how these two, along with many other volunteers, have transformed this huge park into a Christmas Wonderland.
Just driving into the park
Now I’m sure you’re just like me, and you’ve seen Christmas lights before, but I’ve never seen a park change overnight to something so beautiful. This whole project is funded by donations, bake sales, other fund raising, and by word of mouth. On Saturday she was talking that it’s not uncommon for her to get a call from someone that has come up with an idea or gadget to make the lights look better, or maybe they have an ornament that they want to donate to the park. Since the town is working on becoming a Green Town, the parks decorations are all LED lights and they have even reused some of the local towns decorations by restringing them with the lights and then they put them up in the park. There is a Grand Lighting that happens on the Friday after Thanksgiving and to me it reminds me a lot of the movie ‘Polar Express’. Why? Well Santa Clause comes in on a fire truck with all the sirens blowing and makes a loop up in the park. Everyone is drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies while they are waiting for him to come and then the kids run to meet him when he finally arrives. Then he stands up high in the crowd on this huge rock and he draws two names out (a boy and a girl) to be this years helpers. Once these names are drawn and they are given their special Christmas stockings for being the helpers, all the lights are turned on and the whole park lights up at once. It’s just breathtaking! Rows and rows of trees are lit up, and churches with colored windows, deer all in the fields and walkways, and so many things it’s hard to even get everything down. Off Santa goes with a couple hundred people to the gazebo to have the kids have a chance to sit with him and tell him what they want for Christmas. While the kids are doing this, there are a lot of people walking around looking for their special tree. You can decorate a tree in memory of someone you have lost and it’s always nice to go see just how pretty it looks among all the other lights. So I was talking to my sister on Saturday and she was all juiced up about Christmas because both her and her friend were waiting for the volunteers to come to help with some of the lights that needed to be put out. She had me so excited about Christmas that I went and bought extra lights for our farm – 4500 feet of extra lights. OK, really?? Do I need 4500 extra feet of lights when I think I have enough of the lights left over from last year? I also bought some smaller lights and some decorations. Crazy. I’m thinking I’m not going to talk to her again about Christmas until after the night of the Grand Lighting. Well, at least I’m going to try to not to talk to her about it.
Only just a very small part of what they have to put up
What it looked like last Christmas
So if you are around the West Union, Iowa area and need a quick fix on some Holiday Spirit, my recommendation is to visit my sister. You’ll want to be careful though because I’m telling you that you might be heading to the local store for some Christmas lights. And if you are in West Union, I’d try to make a point to get to the park to see it all lit up, it’s amazing to see how this town becomes transformed overnight into truly a Winter Wonderland!
My sister and her friend