Three miles of lights probably sounds like every holiday homeowner’s nightmare, but the Porter County Parks Department has it down to a dazzling science at this point.
Once the final cross-country racers cross the finish line for the year in October, de facto “Christmas Guy” Jack Kachak, Porter County Parks Department electrician, starts plotting for the Winter Night Lights Festival display at Porter County’s Sunset Hill Farm Park. There are V-cords, rebar beams and electrical boxes to anchor the larger displays in the ground, and there’s a lot of checking to see which light sections were tagged for replacing the year before, Park Superintendent Walter Lenckos said.
The Sunset Hill Winter Lights display is up from Nov. 19-Jan. 1, 2018 in Valparaiso.
Some of the installations were purchased; others were handcrafted by Kachak, Porter County Parks spokeswoman Darlene Cohn said. There’s a science to storing the fixtures—namely carefully uninstalling them mostly whole and putting them gently into storage, Lenckos said.
“Really, the festival is a year-round activity for us. There’s always some sort of fixing to do,” Lenckos said. “We take a day where all of us go out and spend it stringing the displays.
“We’ve been lucky this October with the weather; there’ve been many times where, when we’re setting up, we get a day of rain and 30 degrees, and that does affect how many of the installments we set up. With this October being so nice, the festival’s going to be pretty darn sweet.”
And the installations can be simple, like a dolphin. Others—like the elves throwing presents, the knight and dragon or fireworks—are dramatic, Cohn said.
“Some are very tall, too. It’s just eclectic and fun,” Cohn said. “The fixtures are usually the same ones every year in a different configuration, but everyone—especially the kids—have their favorites.”
Cohn said there’s easily 30,000 people over the course of the season.
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“(The festival) is definitely one of our main attractions and biggest events of the year,” she said.
And one of the biggest in terms of staff, Cohn said. More than 100 volunteers from the local high schools—Washington Township, Valparaiso and Portage—will be on hand to sling hot refreshments and sing carols. Duneland Photography Club, meanwhile, is responsible for taking photos with Santa and then posting them online so people can find their picture and print it for free.
Rumor has it there are also Girl Scouts who handle the s’mores.
“It’s such a unique event for the area,” Cohn said. “It’s secular, so it appeals to everyone. You’ll find Santa there, and then you’ll also find fish.
“It’s just silly and fun, especially when it snows. I like to think of it as ‘lighting up the darkness,’ spreading warmth throughout the community.”
And Sunset Hill is a continuously popular one for the area, Lenckos said.
“From a cultural perspective, we’ve discovered that families have Sunset Hill on their calendars,” he said.
Sunset Hill will be accepting donations from visitors during the display.
“We’ve really established this as a family tradition in the 15 or so years we’ve been doing it.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Sunset Hill Winter Lights
When: Dusk-11 p.m. Nov. 19-Jan. 1
Where: Sunset Hill Farm County Park, 775 Meridian Road, Valparaiso
Cost: Free admission
Information: 219-465-3586; www.porterco.org
Tuba Christmas
For holiday revelers more interested in the music side of the holidays, Valparaiso University will take part in the 44th Annual TubaChristmas at the university’s venerated Chapel of the Resurrection at 3:15 p.m. Dec. 3.
Conceived in 1974 by Harvey Phillips as a way to laud his mentor who was born on Christmas, the event brings lower brass instrumentalists together to play a traditional Christmas music arrangement in a somewhat impromptu setting, according to the event’s website. Tuba Christmas is at Chapel of the Resurrection on the campus of Valparaiso University. The fee for participants is $10. Go to www.facebook.com/TubaChristmas-Event-at-Valparaiso-University-152992264732431/.