Brighten your holiday road trip with stops at regional light displays
It’s that time of year. Time when out-of-towners have no reason to ask why a steak restaurant in western Kansas has a 30-foot decorated Christmas tree right inside its entrance. The rest of the year – yes, the tree stays up year-round – motorists exiting Interstate 70 or U.S. 283 for a meal at Western Kansas Saloon & Grill in WaKeeney have every right to be baffled by the seasonally inappropriate feature.
The building is mostly restored to its 1925 condition, when it was built by J.J. Keraus and his sons Ed and Art as their hardware store. The original freight elevator and skylight are still visible, and there’s a pressed-tin ceiling and antiques throughout the restaurant alongside six large paintings depicting locally significant scenes. But diners can’t miss the tree as they walk in beneath etched glass still bearing the Keraus name.
Until they ask a server or read the building’s history on the menu, they won’t know that the basement of the hardware store is celebrated for being the birthplace of WaKeeney’s annual holiday tradition: Christmas City of the High Plains. Art Keraus spent most of his time from 1948 to 1950 working in that basement on what was then a project to drum up business in downtown WaKeeney.
“Keraus was known as the man who could build anything, and he teamed up with another businessman who was an artist to design and build the original decorations,” said Cathy Albert, WaKeeney Travel & Tourism director. “We’re exactly halfway between Kansas City and Denver – it’s 300 miles to each – and they started billing downtown WaKeeney as the largest tree and lighting display between Kansas City and Denver.”
It may no longer be the biggest along that 600-mile stretch, but this year is the 66th season for Christmas City of the High Plains, and it remains a point of pride for the community. The lighting ceremony is always held the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the decorations stay up through Dec. 31. The rest of the year, residents celebrate the moniker a number of ways, including the tree at the restaurant and the recent addition of a dozen three-dimensional metal 4-foot trees installed throughout downtown.
“They are each painted by a local artist with some of the history and attractions of WaKeeney,” Albert said. “There’s one that tells all about Christmas City, another that tells the history of the city and one that celebrates the Smoky Valley Scenic Byway, to name a few.”
The centerpiece of Christmas City of the High Plains remains the tree framework designed in the basement of the hardware store. Keraus built it for a 40-foot tree, but it’s been a few feet shorter since a driver ran into it a few years ago.
“Volunteers fixed it, and the tree went back up within the week, and it’s been a 35-foot tree ever since,” Albert said.
The tree sits in the middle of the main intersection of downtown. It is hand-decorated each year with fresh pine greenery shipped from Michigan and is bejeweled with 3,000 lights. Four 5-foot stars top the tree and hold a canopy of blue string lights.
Four square blocks around the tree are draped with more fresh greenery and lights and decorated with handcrafted wreaths, bells and bows, many from the original 1950 designs. Downtown buildings are outlined with perimeter lights. Albert said the entire display takes about 3 miles of electrical wiring, 1,400 pounds of fresh greenery and 1,100 yards of fresh greenery roping. The majority of the concept established in the 1950s remains. One addition came in 1999, when organizers turned a vacant lot downtown just south of the tree into North Pole Park featuring a lighted archway, a Christmas mural painted on a brick wall and Santa’s house sitting behind a candy cane fence.
Albert said the town of fewer than 2,000 gets holiday travelers stopping off the highways and many nostalgic visitors who return to WaKeeney to bring friends and family to see the Christmas they grew up with. While downtown, stop at the hardware store-turned-restaurant and ask about some of the quirky design features you might not notice, then enjoy the old-fashioned soda fountain at the pharmacy a few doors down on Main Street. The Trego County Historical Society Museum is hosting a holiday scavenger hunt through Dec. 17, and the Kansas Veterans’ Cemetery in WaKeeney is having a Wreaths Across America ceremony at 11 a.m. on Dec. 17.
If the holidays have you traveling within the next month to visit family and friends, here are a few other holiday lights stops to consider as you make your way.
Winfield
For the 24th season, volunteers have turned Winfield’s Island Park into the Isle of Lights, a drive-through wonderland of lights with displays featuring Mrs. Claus’ bakery, Santa’s toy factory, a large animated tree and displays synchronized to music. Organizers say they haven’t counted the lights, but the entire park is closed for the 1-mile drive, and it draws tour buses and a steady stream of personal vehicles from 6 to 10 p.m. nightly through Dec. 30. There is no charge; however, donations are accepted and have funded the conversion to LED lights. Carriage rides from Broken Spoke Dispatch are available on Friday and Saturday nights for $5 per person; verify availability or make special arrangements by calling Mark Decoudres at 620-229-4066.
Topeka/Lecompton
Combine stops in these two cities for an indoor-outdoor Christmas experience.
The 19th annual Winter Wonderland is a 2-mile drive with 1 million lights at Lake Shawnee Campground in Topeka. The event raises money for TARC, a group that provides support for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, by requesting a $10 donation at the gate. Open 6 to 10 p.m. through Dec. 31.
About 20 miles east, the Territorial Capital Museum in Lecompton is showing what it says is the largest indoor Christmas tree exhibit in the Midwest. The oldest of the 125 trees is more than a century old and made of goose feathers dyed green, and there are trees made of other unusual materials, too. Each is decorated with antique and vintage ornaments, from tinseled scrap paper ornaments from the 1880s to World War II metal shortage ornaments from the 1940s to spun-glass ornaments from the 1960s. The museum has extended its hours while the exhibit runs through Jan. 1, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. Donations are accepted for an admission fee.
Overland Park
Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead, south of Kansas City, offers a free 38-minute light show called Holiday Lights on Farmstead Lane. The show is synchronized to music with animation, lighting effects, patterns and messages on a giant flat-panel lighting display featuring thousands of LED bulbs. Watch from your car at the main entrance of the farmstead from 5 to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday-Sunday through Jan. 7.
Yukon, Okla.
In this western suburb of Oklahoma City, Christmas in the Park has expanded to cover 100 acres in three interconnected city parks. Motorists can drive a 3-mile path and walkers can tour 2.2 miles of trails to see an estimated 5 million twinkling lights and more than 425 lighted displays. The event is free and open from 6 to 11 p.m. daily through Dec. 31.
If you drive through, don’t miss the designated pull-over areas, including several showcasing light displays set to music, and be sure to stop at the train station, where you can meet costumed characters like Frosty and Rudolph, take a photo with a colossal polar bear figure, ride a train for $2 per person and purchase from food trucks and vendors. Every year at least a few proposals happen when a request is made to flip the switch on the “Will you marry me?” light display.
Chickasha, Okla.
If you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Chickasha, 40 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, you’ll likely see the glow of the 172-foot illuminated Christmas tree at the town’s Festival of Light in Shannon Springs Park. Organizers say the event, now in its 24th year, attracts 250,000 visitors each year with more than 3.5 million lights, animated displays and a computer animated light show synchronized to holiday tunes. The festival also has a live Nativity scene on select nights in December.
The lights are on from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 6 to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday through Dec. 31. You can drive or walk through at no charge; there are fees for carriage rides, camel rides, laser tag and photos with Santa (limited dates). Visit chickashafestivaloflight.com for more information and go to chickasawcountry.com for a complete list of holiday light displays in Chickasaw County.
Broken Arrow, Okla.
More than 200,000 visitors will drive or walk through the Rhema Christmas Lights on the Rhema Bible Church and Rhema Bible Training College campus in northeastern Oklahoma. It started 34 years ago with 60,000 lights and this year will feature more than 2 million LED lights. A favorite spot to walk is the arched bridge that has 100,000 lights synchronized to Christmas music. It’s free and runs through Jan. 1, with the lights on from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. daily, including Christmas. Carriage rides are available most nights; $10 per adult, $5 per child.
Wichita
If you have out-of-town visitors to entertain, don’t forget about two of the largest light displays in Wichita:
▪ The Arc’s Lights, Nov. 24-Dec. 28, Douglas and St. Paul: This drive-through light display, formerly known as Lights on St. Paul, includes 1.9 million lights, and people can stop for a picture with Santa. This year, organizers are asking people to pay $10 a carload to drive through the event. Santa photos will be available from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and Dec. 19-22. Photos are $5. For more information, visit www.arc-sedgwickcounty.org or call 316-943-1191.
▪ Illuminations, Nov. 25-Dec. 31, Botanica, 701 N. Amidon: This is one of Wichita’s most cherished Christmas traditions, and it fills the gardens with Christmas trees, lights and music. Santa appears each night, and hot drinks and snacks are for sale. Hours are 5:30-8:30 p.m. through Dec. 31, though it’s closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Admission is $8, $7 for Botanica members and $6 for ages 3-12. Children under 3 get in free. Advance tickets are available at Botanica or QuikTrip stores, by calling 316-264-0448 or at botanica.org.
This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Brighten your holiday road trip with stops at regional light displays."