This year’s Christmas in the Park will be bigger and brighter.
According to Park Supervisors Scott Martin and Jimmy Martinez, Ackley Park features several new Christmas decorations.
“There are six new displays,” Martin said. And one of them is big. Maybe the biggest in park history.
North of the Ackley Park tennis courts, a giant Christmas present sits on the concrete slab where the old Scout Hut stood.
“It’s 11 and 1/2 feet tall, 10 feet wide, and 10 feet deep,” Martinez said of the decoration. “It has two openings, and people can walk through it and take pictures.”
Martinez also said the large gift box has 8,600 lights. Another addition this year is the Merchant Tree Farm at the north end of the park. It includes 60 trees sponsored by local businesses.
And to kick off this year’s park activities, Elk City Mayor Cory Spieker and Santa are scheduled to host a 5:45 p.m. tree-lighting ceremony Friday at the new Christmas tree near the Dream League baseball field in the center of the park.
The tree is 22 feet tall and has 6,000 lights. Parks Department employees are applying the finishing decorative touches for Friday’s kickoff of weekend park activities and the nightly light display that lasts through New Year’s Eve.
