Holiday Lights History | Part 2
History of Holiday Lights in Decorah, Iowa.
Part 1: Starting Holiday Lights
Part 2: Campground Operations
Part 3: Special Features/Walk Through Night
Part 4: Past Events
Part 5: Leadership, Memorable Stories
Planning a Drive Through Event
Planning for the event took place in the old Decorah Bank building. Dave Runyon, John and Llew Jenkins, Kathy Schwartzhoff, and others met to address the myriad of details. They would meet every week, 12-16 weeks before the opening of the event.
Today, not much has changed. Weekly meetings start up in mid-August and continue through November, and throughout the rest of the year. More infrequent meetings happen with the Walk Through Night committee, consisting of Helping Services staff and community persons.
In January, the past season is evaluated, looking for opportunities to improve. Reaching out to sponsors is delayed until spring/summer, and into the fall, giving everyone a much-needed break. With nearly 200 sponsors (including the Walk Through Night), it takes time to connect with each one. [2023 stat]
Entry Fees
The entry fee was first advertised as $10 per car, $35 for bus, and $22 for a 3-visit pass. Slow Monday nights encouraged a “couple’s night” with a $5 entry charge. Set entry fees were necessary to cover the bank loan for the displays. Llew Jenkins, responsible for the economic feasibility of the event, stood fast on it. Years later, Llew shared that was her biggest accomplishment in meeting that goal. The investment of the displays was successfully paid off in three years, as she planned.
In 2008, Dennis Osmundson, event director, pushed to discontinue the set entrance fee. Instead, free-will donations were suggested. In Dave’s words, “It loosened the public up, and the event grew thereafter!” Now, everyone could enjoy the lights, including the clients that Helping Services served.
Nights Open
Initially, the event was scheduled from Thanksgiving-New Year’s. Early Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays in the season proved to be slow. It took trial and error to find the right balance of open nights and times.
In 2016, the Holiday Lights committee opted to simplify the schedule by going with open times of Thanksgiving-Christmas, 5-9 pm (with the option to extend the event, depending if Christmas lands near a weekend).
The same trial and error went into the Santa scheduling. Gradually, Santa time was reduced to Friday-Sunday nights (5-7:30 pm) before Christmas Eve with willing Santas ready to stay longer on busier nights. [2023 stat]
One reason to close after Christmas was the holiday break. Scheduling the takedown then made it easier for students to give of their time.
Advertising
The advertising blitz included fliers, newspaper and radio ads. Gradually, advertising would include social media platforms. Solid support from local radio personalities, like Jeni Grouws, fueled excitement for the event.
The Lena and Ole radio spots crystallized under the creative guidance of Shirley Vermace, then an employee of the local radio station. The idea was to catch the ear of the public with the adventures of two, slapstick Norwegians. In one episode, when Ole was nearly hurt trying to hang lights on his own, Lena declared, “I think it’s best if we visit Holiday Lights instead!”
Lena and Ole were portrayed as grandparents, a target audience who wanted to share the lights with their grandchildren. These days, the radio spots are straightforward and simple, as the event is now well-established.
Campground Operations
An outdoor winter event poses challenges. Throw in large, lighted displays, and it gets even more complex. The Holiday Lights’ team has worked through each situation, with great consideration and support from staff and volunteers.
Weather
As expected, freezing drizzle puts fear in most midwesterners. Thick fog, snow, and subzero temperatures are other reasons the event might close (which is infrequent). For the most part, December snow has been light.
Even the wind can be challenging. There have been a few occasions of record-breaking wind speeds, but the natural shelter of the location does a great job protecting the event.
After a bout of dangerous wind chills, a policy was put into effect to close for the safety of volunteers. Folks in toasty warm vehicles sometimes forget how unpleasant it can be for our loyal greeters.
Helping Services prides itself in keeping visitors, volunteers, and supervisors safe, no matter where and what distance they travel from.
| Weather Challenges Llew Jenkins, 2005-2007 event director, feared that high winds could spell devastation to displays. As it turns out, one night there were 40-50+ mph winds. Wanda Hemesath recalls “we had just had a long day of putting up displays – it was all finished. That night, the most awful blizzard with hurricane-force winds struck. I couldn’t sleep, thinking about all of those displays in the campground – how would they survive the storm? How would we get all those volunteers back together again? Right away in the morning I called John Jenkins, and he immediately went out to check the campground. Amazingly, just a couple of displays fell over, and were soon put back into place. I knew then that we had nothing to worry about.” |
Traffic
The meandering layout of the campground makes for a fun and interesting drive through colorful displays. Volunteers, donned in yellow safety vests, stand near the entrance of the campground, directing travelers into the event off of Pulpit Rock Road.
Vehicles are directed to “keep right” and “keep taking rights.” The addition of guides (rope lights around paths and arrows) aids guests in maneuvering trickier loops. Dimming car lights and tuning into the FM stations (via a controlled transmitter) helps everyone enjoy the lights more.
In the first years, getting 40 cars a night was good. Now, breaking 200 cars a night is a regular event. The highest traffic numbers were seen in the year of the Covid-19 Pandemic, 2020, with a record-breaking 529 cars!
| Follow the path! One visitor tells the story that the volunteers at the gate were “very convincing.” It was a bit confusing to see orange cones and people in safety clothing in the dark waving safety lights. He simply thought there was construction detour going on and dutifully followed the waving lights into the campground! He soon found himself driving through the beautiful holiday lights show. |
Electricity
The question is most often asked, “what’s the cost of your electricity bill?!?” It’s true, running an event of this type can amount to big dollars.
The short answer is that when we switched from incandescent to LED, our bill started to noticeably drop. This decline is apparent on the chart below after the 2011 event. The transition to LED did not happen all at once, but rather, most over a two year time period.
There are many variables to consider when looking at cost: the kilowatt fee for electricity in a given year, the number of nights open, the number of displays and other lighting in use, and the hours open (which have fluctuated).
Looking at electric bills years 2005-2015:
- Highest: 2006 for $2418.39 (39 nights and 31 displays)
- Lowest: 2014 came in at $407.62 (with 25 nights open and 52 displays)
Not included are two displays that were placed outside of the campground each year. In addition, lighted candy canes, snowflakes, rope lights, and added floodlights also consumed energy.
The number of displays has more than doubled since the opening in 2005. The Walk Through Night, featuring hot soups in roasters and other appliances, has bumped the bill up. Electric costs are less than $800.00 [2023 statistic], an impressive decline from where the event first began.
The first years, staff walked out to distant shut-off locations they lovingly referred to as “Little Siberia”. It goes without saying, closing down the event at night was not a favorite activity. Over the years, the city worked to improve the electrical infrastructure of the campground for its summer clientele – a definite benefit to the Holiday Lights event, as well.
Light Bulbs & Animations
The real stars of Holiday Lights are the thousands of twinkling lights and the amazing animations. The task of changing all those light bulbs falls on many dedicated volunteers. There can be hundreds of bulbs on just one display!
Bulbs are tested before the displays are set up. On smaller displays, maintenance people will patiently tote around ladders, looking for burnt-out bulbs that are within reach and change them.
| Fun fact: The first displays were all white bulbs! They did not get changed to color until the transition to LED bulbs. This took place in the 2012-2013 seasons. Fun fact: There are actually several shades of white-colored lightbulbs in the displays, ranging from pure white, white with yellow hues, to warm whites. Fun fact: Red bulbs are the most expensive to replace, followed by clear, yellow, green, blue. Fun fact: LED bulbs are stronger than the glass of incandescent bulbs, leading to less accidental breakage. |
Honorable mention goes to the floodlights that light up the display sponsor signs. These can burn out, get smashed or covered with snow, or set off-kilter by real deer in the campground.
How long do bulbs last? Sorry! We don’t have that answer. We do know that the LED lights last much longer than the incandescent bulbs do.
How many lights are there? Thousands. It’s probably the question asked the most. At one point, this was tracked, but is not a priority.
ANIMATIONS
As for the animations, they rely on controller units. Controller boxes control the animation sequences, such as the snowboy kicking a football. The more “functions” the more animated movements. The next time you drive through the lights, appreciate the wonder of technology!
Signs
We would be remiss in not mentioning the sponsor and event signs in the campground. Local sign company, Letterwërks, have been with us since the first Holiday Lights. Yes, the inside of their business really does look like Santa’s workshop! A big thank you to them for being with us all these years!
Setup and Teardown
The first year, Brandano, a company from Florida, came to Iowa to help volunteers set up the lights and give direction. After that, Helping Services and John and Llew Jenkins were on their own.
Finding volunteers became a monumental task. There were plenty of jobs that needed muscle power and team effort. Fortunately, there were people eager to help.
SETUP TEAMS
Single community setup days eventually made way for multiple setup days. Wanda Hemesath, city clerk/treasurer, was responsible for organizing many of the first groups. Her efforts overlapped with Dennis “Oz” Osmundson when he came onboard.
Oz slowly started building a network of permanent small groups, many of them businesses that were seeking community service projects during the work week. This was easier than getting volunteers to give up their weekend time.
Spreading out the groups across the month of November proved to be the best, more manageable approach. Passionate volunteers continued to show up, working on solo jobs and sharing their skills. Businesses such as Hal Roberts’ Son, Farm Credit Services of America, Driftless Gardens and Stevenson Tree Care have made it a recent tradition of offering their staff time to help with the annual set-up. Another key helper in the set-up process is the Joe and Kathy Schwartzhoff Family who help put up the Tunnel of Lights display every year.
| IN GRATITUDE Helping Services appreciates the partnership with the City of Decorah, and everything City employees do to make this event successful. To them, we are sincerely grateful. |
Over time, tips and tricks were learned to make things go smoother. The setup crews found that it wasn’t necessary to put the stakes deep into the ground. Once the ground froze, it really made it difficult to pull them out. Maintenance crews have even gone as far as attaching horizontal brace “stops” to prevent crews from pushing stakes too far into the ground.
These amazing groups and individuals are recognized every year under “Donations of Time, Talent, & Energy” in the program.
TEARDOWN CREW
In 2009, the Decorah and South Winneshiek wrestlers were asked to “take down” (love the pun!) the displays. The strong muscles of these young guys and gals made for short order of the job. The ability to tap into this resource was a key reason that the lights ended on Christmas (or shortly thereafter) while students were still on holiday break.
There were years that the teardown process was made difficult by weather. If there was a large amount of snowfall, pulling up cords from under the crusted snow could be exhausting. If a storm was expected, maintenance staff and helpers might start the tear down earlier than planned. Both wrestling teams still help to this day, making it an annual tradition and marking the conclusion of Holiday Lights for the year.
Storage
Thirty-three displays (the initial purchase) needed a place to go after the event. The first year, the displays were stored in the Decorah old creamery building, just blocks away from the Helping Services location on East Main St. in Decorah.
As it was inefficient to reload the displays every year and unload them, better solutions were sought. Brad Wicks, from Wicks Construction, generously donated a semi trailer. The displays could be hauled away after the event takedown, and then neatly picked up in November from the Wicks’ property. Display storage has now expanded to four semis. [2024 stat]
Nightly Volunteers and Workers
Finding nightly greeters has never been a problem. In fact, some people call early to reserve their spot! The opportunity to volunteer appeals to youth groups, churches, community organizations, friend groups, and businesses. We estimate 350+ people donate their time on nightly shifts, in addition to Walk Through Night and setup/take down volunteers.
Kathy Schwartzhoff, former mentoring staff, coordinated volunteer signups for many years, along with Amy Bruening. Amy has continued the role, now working closely with staff Jane Storlie.
Nightly supervisors consist of Helping Services staff, board, and individuals with close ties to the agency. In the beginning, it was only administrative staff working 5-6 nights each. Adding more supervisors has balanced the workload.
Maintenance staff are also at the nightly event, – it’s the best time to see lights that need to be replaced or fix issues.
Keeping volunteers warm and comfortable
Keeping greeters warm was a major concern. In 2006, John and Llew Jenkins (event directors) borrowed the Decorah Booster Club trailer. The idea was that the sliding windows would be perfect to take tickets and donations – and keep volunteers warm.
It was still difficult to heat, frozen locks were common. It ended up being just a warming house, pulled off to the side. Greeters found it easier to stand to access vehicles.
This trailer replaced the Wick’s Construction trailer used the first year. Although heaters and hot chocolate were offered, the construction trailer was a poor defense against the bitter cold.
In 2016, nightly workers were allowed to use the campground office building. This was a game changer! It offered room for supplies, and also a place for hot drinks, treats, and hand/foot warmers for volunteers. As there is no running water in the campground in winter, a porta potty offers the most basic amenity.
A small, 3 sided plywood shelter provides a wind break when greeting cars. Visitors love driving up to see volunteers warming their hands by a fire ring, and hearing holiday music in the background.
Volunteers greet the cars, thank them for supporting Helping Services, and ask for a freewill donation. They then tally cars and direct visitors on. On slow nights, visitors are welcome to loop through the light show again.
Part 1: Starting Holiday Lights
Part 2: Campground Operations
Part 3: Special Features/Walk Through Night
Part 4: Past Events
Part 5: Leadership, Memorable Stories
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This history was compiled by Renee Matt with interviews with Dave Runyon, Linda Watson, Joe & Kathy Schwartzhoff, Dennis ”Oz” Osmundson, Larry Grimstad, Tim Mueller, Jack Barloon, Perry Novak, John & Llew Jenkins, Wanda Hemesath, Carson Eggland, and Jane Storlie.