(FREE) Festival of Angels: The Gift of Lights
Story by Chelsea McConnell | Staff Writer, All pictures provided by Michelle Wittmer.
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It’s a beautiful October day out at Lake Ponca Park. Most of us are still sipping Spiced Lattes and thinking about that pumpkin patch trip we want to knock off our fall bucket list. However, a hard-working group of volunteers already have Christmas on the brain. Festival Of Angels (FOA) Board members and volunteers are hard at work, laying out and setting up countless light displays. Hundreds of light panels go into making the displays at Lake Ponca Park and the Cann Gardens each year.
When I arrive at the park, I find long-time volunteer Rhonda Cobb and am immediately invited to hop into the golf cart she is deftly careening around the park. Cobb is the kind of woman you feel like you’ve known for ages even though you’ve just met. When there’s work to be done, it’s clear she doesn’t mess around. She kindly gave me an overview of how the whole Festival comes together.
The FOA Board and volunteers begin meeting in March to plan and prepare for the holiday season. Each year, they spend hours repairing lights on the metal display panels. There are over 450 panels of lights that go into creating the scenes they install at Lake Ponca Park, Cann Gardens and the massive angel that goes in front of the Pioneer Woman. Panels sustain some wear and tear each season, so the spring and autumn months are spent prepping them for display.
Each year, something new is added to the mix. What is added depends on ideas from Board members and volunteers. The group is conscious about having an interesting variety, while also being good stewards of the donations the nonprofit receives. Light displays are incredibly expensive. Sometimes new displays are purchased and other years the group designs and builds their own displays. Some years, the Board will buy part of a display and then add smaller items to it that they’ve built themselves. Each scene or display is its own animal and treated as such. Last year they added the Grinch scene, part of which they purchased and part of which they made. They are adding an exciting new display this year as well. It will be prominently displayed near the entrance of the park.
When volunteers create displays, they start with a drawing. From the drawing, metal pieces are measured, cut and welded together. Once that is done, rope lights are attached. The ropes come in sections anywhere from 18 to 24 inches long and each section needs special connectors to speak to each other. On top of building and maintaining displays, volunteers are also working on switching displays to LED lights.
Each year the Board convenes to create the master map for the season, and that is used to guide workers as they place panels in the necessary locations. Cobb and Elaine McDonald are on-site directing the chaos. A handful of City crew help for a few days getting the panels loaded onto trailers, hauled around the park and dropped in their location. They also load all the displays for Cann Gardens and get them delivered, as well as the big angel that goes in front of the Pioneer Woman.
Once panels are stood up, bolted together and secured to the ground, the FOA volunteers take over. They are on location from late October through the day before Thanksgiving when the lights go on. Electricity has to be run for every single display. Once they’re in place, they are double- and triple-checked to make sure all the lights work.
Each evening during the season, a volunteer goes to the Park to open things up. They turn on the lights and make the rounds to ensure that none have gone out and need to be repaired. If they do need to be repaired, volunteers Gaylord Ross and Mark Fisher are on call. Once everything is prepped and ready, the FOA contact meets the volunteers working the first shift of the evening. Various nonprofits and businesses sign up to volunteer throughout the season. At the end of the evening, the FOA volunteer goes back up to the Park to close things up.
This year the lights at Lake Ponca Park will go on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Unbelievably, they are turned on by a single light switch. One literal flip of a switch, and the place lights up like actual Christmas. If that isn’t straight out of a Hallmark movie, I don’t know what is!
The Board hosts a kickoff event on Nov. 27 from 6-9 p.m. They will have two wagons with teams of horses for carriage rides, hot cocoa and marshmallows to roast. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on the scene to greet all the children. Attendance is usually between 1700-1900. The Festival runs through Monday, Dec. 30. The lights are on every night from 6-10 p.m. This year’s run time is 34 days.
The FOA Board also hosts a Caramel Apple Fundraiser in December. McDonald shares, “Apples are dipped in caramel, then in chocolate, then drizzled with white chocolate and topped with mini-chips, nuts or no topping. They are a $12 donation and will be delivered Dec. 19.” If you’re interested in supporting the Festival through this fundraiser, contact a Board member.
The Festival of Angels is a 501(c)(3). All money raised via donations given at the gate go directly back into covering expenses for the event. Everyone who drives through is encouraged to donate. Upkeep of this beloved holiday staple would not be possible without donations from our community.
For more information about the Festival, contact Treasurer Elaine McDonald at (580) 763-7857. The lights will be on Nov. 27-Dec. 30. Volunteers will be there every night unless we encounter severe winter weather causing icy roads.
Festival of Angels Board of Directors
Robert Henderson, President; Ron Greer, Vice President; Shirley Green, Secretary; Elaine McDonald, Treasurer; Wendy Terrazas, Frank Lessert, Mark Fisher, Gaylord Ross, Cathy McBee, Don Kleinman and Michelle Wittmer
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