"We Care Park’s lighting up the season 2007"

Girls throw switch that leaves park aglow

At the stroke of 6 p.m. the area surrounding We Care Park became aglow with the twinkling of thousands of lights to mark the arrival of the Christmas season in Kokomo. Hundreds of people gathered on Thursday for the annual lighting of We Care Park, with donations going to support those in need in Howard County. There was a long line of cars slowly driving on Gano Street to glimpse the festivities.
This year Vernon and Shirley Graves submitted the winning bid to throw the switch that turned on the lights and turned over the duties to four young ladies, two of them their granddaughters.“I’ve tried to win the honor of turning on the lights before,” Vernon Graves said. “It was a challenge. Our granddaughters are excited about Christmas this year and putting their list together.Graves said he has supported the event ever since Mike Wyant started lighting the park in 1995.“We enjoy it,” he said. “Sometimes it has been a little warmer or colder, but it was just right this year.”Janely Mondragon, 9, Katelin Myers, 11, Alyssa Raney, 12, and Kelly Myers, 10, had the honor of turning on the lights.“The lights are pretty, Raney said. “I’m excited about turning them on.”Kelly Myers never thought about having the opportunity to turn on the lights. Myers said if the lights didn’t come on when the switch was thrown, she was going to blame somebody with a laugh.“I am a kid in a candy store,” Wyant said with a broad grin. “This takes me back to my childhood, when I had 15 brothers and sisters at home. We just had a tree on Christmas eve, that dad had to go get free because we couldn’t afford to buy one and put lights on it.“This makes it special for me,” he said. “To do this for the community and to do this for the kids. The kids enjoy it so much.”
Wyant said he will continue to light the park as long as he is physically able.“It is much bigger this year, added a lot of new stuff,” Wyant said of the display. “I’m already thinking about next year, how I can make it better. I try to think ahead, sometimes it takes me three or four years to get something put in place.”Wyant said the snow flurries made the day better.“To see the people come out to see it, that’s what makes it all worthwhile,” he said. “Knowing you made somebody’s day.”Jessica Gunn, 10, said she likes it best when all the lights come on all around you.“There is something new every year,” she said. “I like them all.”Brandon Butler, 11, has been coming on opening night for the past four years.“All the lights coming on at once is my favorite part,” he said, “it gets bigger every year.”Susie Baker brought her two children, Zachary and Autumn, to watch the lighting of the park. When the lights came on, Zachary was turning in his mother’s arms to look at the displays.“I like the enjoyment of my kids, seeing Santa Claus and walking around and excited to see all the lights,” she said. Sandy Guge said she was the first Mrs. Santa Claus in 1995 and has been living in Florida for the past seven years but didn’t want to miss the lighting of the displays.“That first year was horrible,” she recalled. “You couldn’t get from Apperson Way to the railroad tracks, it was jam packed with people. “The kids, that’s the main thing,” Guge said. “People get out of control, but kids are the most important thing.”

The Wyant Family puts in a lot of work to give the residents of the Kokomo area the best in lighting for the Christmas Season. Take time to go and see this display. You will be overwhelmed. Thanks to the Wyants and all those who helped them to make each Christmas one of joy and love for everyone.