The Light of Christmas…Socially Distanced
Unlike so many other 2020 festivities, Cuero’s Christmas in the Park annual light show not only remains on the calendar, it’s been open since Nov. 23. The event moved forward this year thanks largely to the fact it includes built-in social distancing. It’s designed as a “self-guided driving tour,” allowing attendees to follow a path through Cuero Municipal Park, viewing elaborately staged holiday light displays without leaving their vehicles.
“Social distancing isn’t really a concern—not for the public part,” said Samantha Bayfus, who coordinates the event for Cuero Development Corporation’s December Events Committee. That’s not to say Christmas in the Park hasn’t been affected by social distancing concerns. For one, visitors in 2020 won’t be able to leave their cars to take pictures in front of the Christmas in the Park tree. Additionally, with over 250 lighted displays and more than 300 lighted “snowflake” commemorative ornaments, the event requires lots of planning and many hours of setup and disassembly. “This year we started setting up almost a month early,” Bayfus explained. “We added the extra time so we could allow our volunteers to socially distance as much as possible.”
Christmas Amid a Year of Cancellations
Given all this year’s cancellations, Bayfus and everyone involved in staging Cuero’s Christmas in the Park annual light show felt a deeper responsibility than usual to deliver a magical, uplifting experience. “We are so blessed to be able to hold this,” she said. “At a time when there’s so much uncertainty, and it seems like everything is cancelled, we pushed really hard to make sure we can safely hold Christmas in the Park.”
Twenty One Years of Holiday Light
Cuero’s Christmas in the Park annual light show launched in 2000 with the lighting of the park’s gazebo. It grew from there to become a massive community undertaking. “Our current vice chair—Kay Lewis—she was chair back then, and she fought hard to get this started,” Bayfus said. “Thanks to her, this event has become bigger than we could’ve dreamed.”
With increasing size, came increasing expense. The displays that make up the show include over 85,000 lights. Until a few years ago, these were all incandescents, the oldest lighting technology available. Compared to LED bulbs, incandescents don’t last as long and use more energy, making them more expensive to operate. “We were replacing all our bulbs every year,” Bayfus said. “It was becoming very costly.” These factors led the December Events Committee to begin work on upgrading to LEDs. The committee proposed a three-to-four-year timeframe to do a complete transition.
Power Up to Cuero’s Christmas in the Park Annual Light Show
In 2017, Bayfus assisted with applying for a GVEC Power Up grant to help with the LED changeover. When completing the application, Bayfus was inspired to include the story of a woman who’d visited the light show a previous year and caused a minor stir because she’d driven through while on an iPad. “I think some of the other visitors were frustrated because she was going through so slow, holding up the line,” Bayfus recalled. “We take donations at the exit gate, and we asked her what she was doing. Turns out, she was Facetiming her husband, who was a soldier deployed in Afghanistan. He and a group of other soldiers had gathered to see Christmas in the Park over Facetime from half a world away. I knew I had to include that on the application because it really drove home how much this event means to our community.”
When the Cooperative named Cuero’s Christmas in the Park annual light show a 2017 recipient, the $20,000 award changed the timeline. “With the help of this grant,” Bayfus said, “we were able to finish in two years, and we were really over the moon about that.” The committee hasn’t changed a display bulb—incandescent or LED—since 2018. “I want to thank GVEC’s members for their generosity in helping make this happen,” Bayfus said. “The displays cost less to operate now, and we don’t need to replace the bulbs nearly as often. Without Power Up, we would’ve struggled to get this done, so we are extremely appreciative.”
Christmas in the Park runs every night, 6 to 10 p.m., at Cuero Municipal Park through Jan 1. Members of the public may purchase customized displays or ornamental snowflakes from January through March. These may be dedicated to loved ones or friends and will become a permanent part of this holiday tradition. For more information, call 361.275.8178 or visit the Cuero Christmas in the Park website.
