Holiday Light up the Night opens in Elkader City Park

By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register

There’s just something about Elkader that makes it not just a place to be, but the place to be. At least that’s the sense when you talk to the community, listening to the chatter, reading posts on social media or watching the latest video updates on the goings on around town. 

As the weather turns colder, the river ices over and snow covers the bridge, Elkader becomes almost reminiscent of a Hallmark Christmas movie town. It has its little coffee shops, quaint museums, an opera house led by a group of community members and festivals. And yes, there’s even hot chocolate and Santa makes his annual visit. 

That could all just be romanticizing, or it could be based on a vision Main Street Director Amy Holst had when coming up with the idea for the new Holiday Light up the Night event. Noticing an opportunity to highlight all the outdoor activities Elkader has to offer in the winter, like the trail for cross country skiing, snowshoeing and some decently sized hills for tubing and sledding, images of Hallmark movies danced in her head. 

“How beautiful it would be to snowshoe around the trail in the city park, while looking at the holiday lights and hopefully watching beautiful snow fall, along with stopping for hot chocolate in the shelter at the end of your outdoor adventure,” she said. 

One thing every Hallmark Christmas movie has is a determined main character, sights set on a goal, whether it is saving the family tree farm, being snowed in or reconnecting with a high school sweetheart. While none of those apply in this situation, Holst is the main character, determined to “bring more exposure to all the wonderful opportunities Elkader has to offer.”

But she didn’t want to just walk down to City Park with a box of Christmas tree lights dug out from storage and string them up. So, she talked to people with some experience in this matter. You know, the movie characters with wisdom who are often just St. Nick in disguise. Whether Lee and Lisa Pool are on vacation from the North Pole, I’m not at liberty to say, however, they do live in the community and were involved in creating “This Little Light of Mine” in New Hampton. 

After picking their brains for ideas, it was off to city hall, because every decent Hallmark Christmas movie includes stops at city hall, typically because that’s where the bah-humbug antagonist resides, ready to stop the fun. However, Holst did not encounter a small-hearted Grinch stealing toys, trees and Who Hash. Instead, she found support from elected officials, like council member Deb Schmidt, who declared, “I love the idea!”

“If your downtown stays alive, then your community does too. I think it’s splendid we add to folks visiting festive lights and having fun. There’s nothing better than bringing families together to make memories,” Schmidt said. 

The idea was also endorsed by council member Tony Hauber, who said, “I’ve driven to Decorah, West Union and even as far as La Crosse for light shows. I’m excited to see them in our hometown and for all the people that will make plans to come visit us this holiday.” 

Meanwhile, council member Bob Garms stated it is “the start of something big!”

The big idea needed a location and an electricity source that could handle the event, but even this challenge wasn’t much of a challenge at all, since City Park is already equipped to handle the request. It was an obvious location choice for a number of reasons, which Holst laid out. 

Along with the access to electricity, there are restrooms and a shelter house with a fireplace. If ever there was a Hallmark Christmas movie building to serve hot chocolate in, this certainly fits the cliché. The shelter house also offers the ability to host other activities on Friday and Saturday nights. 

In addition, Holst said she loved the fact City Park sits near the highway, making it so the light display would be visible to travelers on Highway 13, capturing their attention, and maybe even bringing them to “our charming community.”

“The flow of the traffic seemed like we had options for cars going in and coming out and I can’t think of a better location to highlight our awesome museums, the George Maier museum and the depot,” Holst added. 

In bringing Hallmark to Elkader, albeit slightly deviating from the well-established formula, the new holiday event brought changes to the holiday schedule. Gone is “Get Your Jingle On,” being rebooted as “Jingle Mingle,” a shopping event with several holiday activities being hosted by local businesses. You know, where classic Hallmark Christmas movie first dates and meet-cutes occur. 

This year, friends and companions partook in making sand art, ornaments and even cat toys, or listened to the UCC Bell Choir and took a photo in Santa’s sleigh. And, yes, they probably even drank some hot chocolate. 

In coming weeks, there will be hayrack rides, an ugly sweater run, carriage rides and snow shoeing, assuming Mother Nature cooperates. 

One thing you won’t be able to do, though, is ice skate. Despite trying to get a rink in City Park, insurance company requirements mean you won’t need to dust off the skate sharpener. Maybe we found the Elkader Hallmark Christmas movie villain after all. 

“With much disappointment, we will forgo the ice skating rink this year, and hopefully have more time next year to figure that obstacle out,” Holst said.

However, like all Hallmark Christmas movies that have a conflict, generally in the last 15 minutes before being resolved with a happy conclusion, so does Elkader’s. The highlight of the Holiday Light up the Night even was never a skating rink. It was the light displays, and that was a challenge that was met. 

Starting from an email with an invitation to rent a 10x10 spot for $25 with an initial target of filling all the camping spots, which would have been 26 sites, Holst managed to have 36 spots secured, “exceeding all expectations.” Part of the attraction is each business gets to design and create their light display. That includes a light bright design by Central art students, an igloo, a giant reindeer and a glitter bow. It’s “something big” and bright. 

Now come the final moments of Hallmark Christmas movie featuring Elkader, with the successful opening night of the Holiday Light Show, which brightened the night for the first time last Friday and will continue to illuminate the winter sky until Dec. 31, between 4:45 to 10:15 p.m. daily. 

In addition to the displays, every Friday and Saturday night there will be activities taking place. Each night, starting at 6:30 p.m., hot chocolate will be served.