By Becky Manley / Staff Writer
About twice a week, Carolyn Barnett pays $2 so she can wear jeans to work.
Barnett, a Dupont Lodge front desk clerk, is among the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park employees who donate money for Christmas lights that brighten the park during the holidays.
While the park’s employees have raised over $2,500 for this year’s display with the jeans fundraiser and bake sales, the park is seeking donations and sponsorships so they can illuminate the area around the falls with holiday lights, according to Lisa Davis, Cumberland Falls resort park manager.
The park’s first Christmas light display in 2008 was purchased with more than $1,000 raised by park employees, Davis said. The display, which Davis said spanned from its entrance to Dupont Lodge, received rave reviews from park visitors.
“It had a huge visual impact,” Davis said. “It was Christmasland.”
In addition to offering a fun event for park visitors, Davis said she hopes the event will draw more people to the falls during the winter months — typically a slower time for the park — which will allow her to maintain 40-hour workweeks for the park’s employees.
“We’re just going to take it as far as we can,” Davis said. “We just want to keep growing it to make it spectacular.”
The display will be highlighted during Holiday Hayrides set for 6:30-8:30 p.m. the first three weekends in December. Davis said park visitors will be transported by hay wagon to the falls where they can view the lights and enjoy smores around a bonfire. Then visitors will be taken to one of the park’s cabins to visit with a celebrity from the North Pole.
“Santa has confirmed with us he will be there as long as we give him a cabin with a fireplace,” Davis said.
