City Parks Crews Select Special Area for Light Displays Each Holiday Season

PARKS CREWS SELECT SPECIAL AREA

FOR LIGHT DISPLAYS EACH HOLIDAY SEASON

In addition to annual areas of decoration,

Founder’s Park gets some extra attention

this holiday season from Parks crews

RAPID CITY, SD—Each holiday season, the public is treated to beautiful displays of lights adorning trees, gazebos and other structures at Halley Park, Wilson Park and Canyon Lake as well as the downtown core area.  Each season, City Parks maintenance crews reserve some strings of lights to decorate a tree or trees in a different City park area.

       A few years ago, a single tree in Sioux Park along Canyon Lake Drive was adorned in lights.  This year (2023), several trees in Founder’s Park were selected to be decorated for the holiday season.

      City Parks Division Manager Scott Anderson says crews identify a different park each year for additional light display.  The Founders Park light display greets morning and late afternoon commuters and evening drivers on West Omaha Street, one of the busiest areas for traffic in the city.

       “It’s a little present to the community from the crews, to select a different park each year for a light display,” Anderson said.

       Anderson says crews spend several days in early November decorating major park areas such as Halley Park, Wilson Park, the Canyon Lake gazebo and fireplace shelter with thousands of lights.  The crews also put up strings of poinsettia, snowflake and candy cane decorations across downtown streets, pole decorations and also strings of lights on trees in the intersection areas in the downtown core area.

      “The crews take a lot of pride in decorating all of the areas,” said Anderson.  “They just don’t toss strings of lights on the trees and walk away.  There’s a lot of planning and coordination in how the lights will be set up, where the lights will go, how the different lights and decorations will mix together to make a great display.

      “They take a lot of pride in their work.”

      A showpiece of the crews’ work is the City’s Parks and Recreation Office in Halley Park.  Numerous holiday displays are erected along with various color designs for the trees.  Most of the trees and structures – large and small – are adorned in strings of lights.  A couple of bushes in Halley Park are adorned in bright red lights and appear as red flames to pedestrians and oncoming drivers.  A staggered-light tree display greets drivers on the west side of Halley Park.

      Blinking lights, a star and numerous light strings adorn the fireplace shelter on the west side of Canyon Lake.

      “The crews do a great job and it helps get the community into the holiday spirit,” said City Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Biegler.  “We get a lot of great comments on the light displays and it’s a credit to the hard work of the crews.”

        Most of the lights and decorations will remain up past New Year's Day with the downtown tree decorations remaining up through the Black Hills Stock Show.