Nov 26, 2020

🎥 WaKeeney's Christmas City on the High Plains celebrates 70 years

Posted Nov 26, 2020 11:30 AM

News release

WAKEENEY - WaKeeney, Kansas, known as the "The Christmas City of the High Plains” for the past seven decades, kicks off the Christmas season on Saturday, November 28.

 Activities begin at 9:00 a.m. and continue throughout the day with the lighting ceremony beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Santa will arrive and light the 35 ft. tree and then proceed down the street to his new house in the North Pole.

Throughout the day there will be many free activities, such as a Christmas Bazaar, “Timeless Holiday Tradition” display at the local museum, “A Christmas Carol” puppet show, Nex-Tech Express train rides, horse-drawn wagon rides, live reindeer to view, and a soup supper.

Plans are to continue with the lighting ceremony with safety precautions. Many of the activities are outside. We are asking that everyone follow social distancing guidelines and wear masks, if required.

The tree and decorations will remain through January 1, 2021, so visitors can view our traditional Christmas scene any evening until then. The holiday tradition display will also remain at the Trego County Historical Museum until 2021.

Every year for the past 70 years, the downtown area is turned into a magical holiday wonderland.

Highlighting this annual tradition is a magnificent handmade 35-foot tree of fresh pine greenery with over 2,000 lights.

The tree rests under a canopy of heavenly blue lights in the middle of the main intersection of Main and Russell Ave.

It is topped with four ivory stars, each five ft. in diameter. A four-square block area around the tree is draped with greenery garlands, handcrafted wreaths, bells, stars, and trees, and, of course, more lights. In all, there are over 6,300 lights, three miles of electrical wiring, 600 lbs. of fresh pine greenery, and 1,100 yards of greenery roping in the display.

These one-of-a-kind decorations are still used today.

The idea was born in 1948 by two local businessmen.

Art Keraus, the owner of Keraus Hardware, was “a man who could build anything”. His fellow businessman, J.H. “Jake” Heckman, was the local banker and a talented artist. Together these two men masterminded the holiday display, which was designed and built in the basement of Keraus Hardware. The two men spent hours in the basement of the hardware store making sure that the decorations were just right. Many local businessmen and the entire community helped build and erect the holiday decorations.

The display was first lit in 1950, and more decorations were added each year until 1956, when they announced that the project “had reached its peak.” They felt that the display was “nearing perfection.”

Through the years there has only been one addition. During the 1990s all the downtown buildings were outlined with over 2,000 perimeter lights, which remain lit year-round. These lights were replaced with LED color-changing perimeter lights in 2018.

The annual Christmas Tree Lighting is always held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and remains lit until after New Year's Day.

This annual tradition is considered one of the largest Christmas displays between Kansas City and Denver. 

For more information, contact WaKeeney Travel & Tourism at WaKeeney.org, [email protected], Facebook @ Get WaKeeney, or 785-743-8325.