The Garden City Telegram
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Hanging 'em up for the holidays
Published 11/16/2009 in Local News
By MONICA SPRINGER
They gathered in Stevens Park on Saturday morning taking turns stringing lights on trees, climbing on ladders and using poles to reach high branches.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Anahi Castillo, 6, tosses a string of lights over a branch while wrapping it Saturday in Stevens Park during the annual volunteer tree decorating event.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Luis Guevera reaches out to grab a string of lights as he stands in a tree Saturday in Stevens Park as he and other volunteers decorate the park’s trees with holiday lights. Guevara participated in the event to help Kenneth Henderson Middle School's La Raza group, which his daughter, Rosaura, is a member.
About 100 volunteers participated in the event, which has been a yearly tradition in Garden City for about 12 years.
Beverly Schmitz Glass, executive director of Garden City Downtown Vision, said volunteers started showing up at 8:15 a.m., 45 minutes before the scheduled start time, and ate doughnuts, drank hot chocolate and visited with each other before beginning the work.
Glass said the process starts the day before the lights are hung on the trees. City crews get the lights out of storage, then place the lights and extension cords by each tree in Stevens Park.
Then the volunteers show up to string the lights. It's a tradition that brings the community together, Glass said. The event marks the start of the holiday shopping season, as well, and many stores in downtown Garden City offered refreshments and giveaways to entice residents to shop downtown.
Danny Ortiz and Marcy Fregozo brought their two children, Milly Ortiz, 7, and Anthony Ortiz, 4, and helped to string the lights in the trees.
Fregozo said her son is in Headstart, and the parent-teacher organization always helps hang the lights.
The family said they helped string the lights on the same tree as they did last year, on a medium-sized tree near Hero's Way.
"It's something we enjoy," Danny Ortiz said.
Fregozo added: "It's something to do with the kids."
Milly said she liked helping with the lights and drinking hot chocolate in the chilly temperatures.
Danny Ortiz said the project is fun and encouraged more people to get involved next year.
"People should volunteer and participate in the community," he said.
Russell Harp, 16, Reed Harp, 13, and Dustin Worden, 16, said it's a tradition they've helped with since grade school.
"It brings people together," Worden said.
The teenagers said they like the way the lights look in the winter in the park.
"I can't wait until they light it," Reed Harp said.
Today, city crews will test the lights to make sure each strand works. Then the lights in Stevens Park will be switched on at 6 p.m. Nov. 26, Glass said.
Crew films event
Milly Ortiz, sitting on a bench in Stevens Park after her family helped decorate trees, said her favorite thing about the event was being filmed.
A crew from The History Channel filmed and interviewed families who volunteered for the event.
The footage will become part of a 20-minute movie featuring the Hispanic immigrants who have come to Garden City and that will detail the impact that immigrants have made on the area, said Aaron Matthews, director and producer.
While being interviewed by the crew, Glass said many of the volunteers were Hispanic. She said the work of hanging the lights might not have been possible without the many Hispanic families that helped.
Garden City is one of five cities throughout the United States that has been tapped for what the people at The History Channel are calling, "Ellis Island: Towns Across America."
It'll be at least another year before the documentary is finished, Matthews said.
The crew from The History Channel will be in Garden City through Tuesday.
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