Central Park lights up for 4th annual Santa’s Shining Lights Display

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in downtown Charles City as Central Park lit up this weekend for Santa’s Shining Lights Display.

Eighteen displays of holiday lights turned on at the park on Saturday, Nov. 30, to mark the start of the holiday season.

“I think everything went really well,” said Jessica Gintz, who organized the event through the Rotary Satellite Club. “We had a lot of people that braved the cold.”

This is the fourth year for the event and in spite of below-freezing temperatures, families still came out, or at least drove by the park, to enjoy the holiday displays.

“I thought it went really well,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks. “The lights all came on when they were supposed to.”

The Chamber of Commerce brought in Santa Claus himself for the Saturday evening event, with more than 80 kids coming through Santa House to share what they want for Christmas.

“I was surprised at the crowd because of how cold it was,” said Wicks. “I had to dip into our back-up stash” of candy canes.

Wicks also thanked Perry Novak Electric for helping with the power equipment to make sure there were enough outlets for all the lights on display.

In addition to the lights at the park, Saturday also featured the lighting of Memory Lane between the Cedar River and Park Drive north of Gilbert Street, and a Main Street fireworks show to ring in the holiday season with a bang.

The park lighting event marks the beginning of a month of Christmas activities. Santa Claus will be available at the Santa House again on Dec. 7 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and on Dec. 14 and 15 from 1 to 3 p.m. Santa will also be around for horse-drawn wagon rides through Main Street Charles City on Dec. 21 and 22.