Christmas In The Park History

The first year of Christmas in the Park was in 2017, and utilized volunteer groups as a way to help them raise funds for their organizations.

 

Mark Vendel, Parks Administrator at the time was the visionary and started a program that would hopefully sustain itself in the future.

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Many of our current primary sponsors have been sponsors since the very first year. Cass County Community Foundation donated the funds to customize the entrance arch “Logansport’s Christmas

In the Park”.

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2018 year was also done using volunteers for specified hours, and non-profit organizations again were able to raise funds for their activities. The Cass County Community Foundation donated funds to provide the “Waving Santa” at the exit of Spencer Park. 1175 vehicles drove through the park, in which 122 of those vehicles were from out of Cass County. This was the first year in which holospex glasses were used. Kids and families found that the holiday light displays were even more beautiful using the holospex.

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2019 was another beautiful display. This was the first year in which we partnered with the Century Career Center to create both “snowflakes” and video “commercials”. We had 1606 vehicles drive through, with 355 from out of Cass County. We raised a total of $8,595. We also handed out a brochure that included coupons from a variety of local retailers.

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2020 was the year of COVID, and so substantial changes were necessary. Changes included not having volunteers to collect a free-will donation, so very few donations at the entrance, and learning how to track the visitors without volunteers staffing the park every night. Through the use of highway counter system, we were able to track approximately 3300 cars throughout the season. This was the first year of the “snow falling” tree, that was incredibly beautiful.

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2021 was a beautiful display with several new displays including the “stacked gifts” donated by the Cass County Community Foundation. In addition, many displays were boosted with LED lights, which were brighter and more beautiful and really enhanced the overall beauty of Spencer Park. More trees were also wrapped, which created a larger area to be viewed. 4916 vehicles drove through, with $1063 in free will donations both on-site and online.