It’s Christmas in August for Park Board

Monday, August 10, 2020

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for the Greencastle Park Board.

For a longstanding dream for a Christmas in the Park festival of lights just might find its way to Santa’s list for Park Board members this year.

At the board’s August meeting, a letter from Kate Knaul of the Greencastle Civic League and director of services with the Putnam County Convention and Visitor Bureau was introduced, proposing a collaborative effort to make the holiday light festival a reality.

“We’ve been trying to get this going for a while,” Park Board President Tim Trigg said of the desire for a lights festival similar to the one in Danville’s park. “This could be a good start.”

Knaul, who did not attend the August meeting but will be asked to appear at the September Park Board session, proposed the use of Robe-Ann Park for the lights festival.

”By all accounts, there’s been a longstanding desire to have a holiday lights display in Greencastle,” her letter said. “We now find ourselves with various groups who are ready to make this happen.”

She notes that the Visitor Bureau wants to see more festivals and events that could draw visitors, especially the overnight variety who might spend money in local hotels and restaurants. The Civic League, meanwhile, is hoping for more “cultural, fun and engaging opportunities” to improve quality of life for local residents.

The Greencastle Arts Council wants to bring more visual art events to the community, while the Chamber of Commerce would like to see a winter market in which businesses might participate.

And the Parks Department, as Knaul notes, “wants to celebrate the wonderful resources we have.”

The impetus for all this comes after the Visitor Bureau was approached by a community member wishing to donate equipment she previously used for a major lights show in her Indianapolis neighborhood. She also offered details of what would need to be purchased to put on a lights show.

Her display included music that was choreographed in sync with the lights. That, however, is not likely to be a part of a 2020 lights show, Park Board members agreed.

Park Director Rod Weinschenk asked the board if the holiday lights festival is something the group would like to pursue with volunteer help.

He noted that the group behind the collaborative effort is “worried about security and vandalism.”

“We put up decorations every year,” Weinschenk said, “and sure enough we lose an extension cord or a string of lights or one of our characters gets deflated every year.”

The proposal suggests the lights would be in place roughly from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

The display is seen as a combination of lights on trees or existing structures as well as an array of lighted features (handmade from PVC or similar materials) that can be displayed just for the duration of the event.

The full proposal is for equipment ultimately costing an estimated $25,000.

“We’re talking about a pretty big display,” Knaul noted in her letter.

Funding, she suggests, is anticipated at about a third in this initial year with additional sources of funding sought for subsequent years.

“While the Greencastle Civic League is willing to serve as the lead organizer,” the proposal states. “They absolutely need and want collaboration to make this happen. It will take lots of people to check the lights, make the displays, hang the lights and determine the visual layout. The Greencastle Arts Council is excited to help with artistic design. The Chamber is excited to facilitate a market and we expect out local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, school groups and others may be willing to help as well.”

The item was tabled by the Park Board until the September meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3.

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