Christmas decorations have started going up at Evans Towne Center Park ahead of the holiday season.
Janet Wheatley, programs and events manager, said the decorations start going up after the county’s Halloween event in mid-October. They must start this early due to the number of decorations to put up before opening the week of Thanksgiving.
“Our maintenance team will actually work between now and all the way up to that week right before they open on the 20th of November,” Wheatley said. “We added [a bunch of] scenes and everything last year… and we’re actually adding a bunch of new scenes this year. It just takes a lot of planning and preparation to get things going.”
The lights are all around Evans Towne Center Park and there are several different themes throughout the area, including the patriotic area, kids area and more, Wheatley said.
“Around the ice skating rink, which is opening soon, we have some more ice skating themed type decorations,” Wheatley said. “This year we’re adding lights all the way around the walking path. Last year we did some of the trees, this year we’re doing all of the trees. It’s basically around the entire Evans Towne Center Park.”
One of her favorite decorations is the 50-foot Christmas tree added last year, which plays music and has themes to go with the music. A favorite of visitors is the new ornaments that they can stand in to take photos.
The lights will go live on Monday, Nov. 20 and will stay up through the first week of January, Wheatley said.
Stephanie Hill is the managing editor and covers Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
