Holiday Spirit in Kansas City

Written by mindy.haesemeyer on . Posted in Newspaper.

Story by Abbey Euritt – Co-Assistant Editor/Sports Editor

   As the holiday season approaches, Kansas City has taken pride in celebrating with activities and traditions during the month of December. Students and staff have attended many fun things to get in the holiday spirit. On November 23rd, the Plaza lighting ceremony continued the tradition and Chris Gerding, science teacher, attended with his family. 

   “The Plaza lighting was a lot of fun, there was a big crowd, and I hadn’t been to it in about 20 years. I got to see Tech N9ne perform and he flipped the switch which was cool,” Gerding said. 

   The tradition of the Plaza Lights takes place on Thanksgiving each year, bringing together the community of Kansas City in holiday spirit. 

   “Being around all the people is really exciting and the lights come on with fireworks which brings energy to the crowd,” Gerding said.

   The ceremony, each year, is a tradition for many families to watch the plaza light up. Located in Johnson County, another holiday light festivity is open to the public. Powell Gardens, Evergy Festival of Lights, is a walkthrough of the lit up botanical garden.

   “It was really nice to see all the lights, and nothing like anything I’ve seen before,” Max Hill, senior, said. 

   Powell Gardens, a botanical garden, becomes like nothing else, with a walking trail through the colorful lights for the holidays. 

   “My favorite part was looking at all the lights from the silo that overlooked the garden,” Hill said. 

   Among the lights and hot chocolate stations, the trail also includes a silo with stairs to the top that overlook the lights. Another holiday light show is Christmas in the Park, with over 200 light displays available to drive through at night. 

   “I went around 8:00 pm and the line was very short compared to the normal long line. I drove through the lights with my friends and it was so pretty,” Sydney Stoecklein, junior, said. 

   Christmas in the Park, located at the Longview Lake Campground, is a free admission Christmas activity that many people use to get in the holiday spirit and spend time with others. 

   “My favorite part of Christmas in the Park is listening to Christmas music, while spending time with my friends,” Stoecklein said. 

   Kansas City has many activities available to the community for the holiday season, most of which opened to the public the last week of November.

 

Photo by Kate Gerding

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