For most of December and ending on New Year’s Eve, Pomme De Terre Lake Dam Park in Hermitage, Missouri, transforms a small portion of the massive reservoir’s 113 miles of continuous shoreline into a grand display of joy. of the holidays.
Sponsored by the Pomme de Terre Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, the event is called “Ignite the Lake.”
For the families of Hickory, Polk, St. Clair and other surrounding counties that come to the car style show, it is the perfect opportunity to visit a popular place to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with their loved ones.
“This is wonderful. It’s one of the best trips we’ve ever been on,” said Tom Huff, who runs a farm in Fair Grove, Missouri, about an hour away. He said he heard about the event on Facebook and decided to come while visiting a friend at the Hermitage.
When he talked to his wife about the exhibits sponsored by local churches and religious nonprofits in the area, in what he described as a “spiritual” experience, he lamented that this won’t be the last time they visit before the holidays are over. .
“I like it a lot. We can take the grandkids and be back before Christmas. I think they’re going to like it,” he said. “It has exceeded my expectations and it is wonderful that the Corps [USACE] allowed this to happen.”
Huff and his wife were in just one of more than 120 cars that drove through opening night Dec. 4 to see the many exhibits strategically placed along the winding road that leads in and out of the Dam Site Park campground.
Chip Shaddox is the treasurer of the Pomme de Terre Chamber of Commerce and owner of Hickamo, a Truckstop bar and cafe located in Wheatland, Missouri, nearly 10 miles east of the lake on US Highway 54.
As the lead organizer for the show’s sponsors, he said planning for the event can be a heavy lift for their five-person team. But it’s worth it as community members pitch in to help with setup starting in early November and teardown, which begins on New Year’s Day.
“This year we were able to get 20 children from Hermitage High School to volunteer and they helped put up the 35 arches you see throughout the park. Then there’s a tunnel there, which took about six hours to complete,” Shaddox said.
Since Light Up the Lake was founded four years ago, he said the goal is to make the event bigger and bigger each year to bring more tourists to Lake Pomme de Terre during the slow winter months.
Based on appearances, it has grown exponentially and much faster than Shaddox and the local room expected.
“We started with about 28 people the first year, and we also have nonprofits that put on exhibits. I think we had about 60 the second year and 75 the third year. This year we have 95 participants”, he said. “One of these days I hope they get an accurate count, but I’d definitely say over a million lights.”
The 95 displays feature the usual Christmas characters such as the Grinch, Santa Claus, reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.
However, since each is tied to themes related to the individual sponsor or business, each exhibit has something different for visitors to get excited about.
The Pomme de Terre Lake project office, located directly across from the dam’s iconic control tower and the only one of its kind built directly into the limestone, even participated in the holiday display fun, according to Natural Resources Manager Shannon Henry.
“Ours promotes water safety here at the lake. So we have some life jackets and water safety placards. But then we also have a camper because we offer recreational opportunities here at the lake,” she said.
Park rangers Mitch Jackson and Devin Holt designed the USACE display, which also features a family of snowmen made from used tires.
Although the number of people using the lake for water recreation decreases in the winter months, hunting recreation increases while fishing remains stable, according to Jackson. These trends are why water safety remains paramount to the USACE mission.
“The last thing we want to do is get a call, especially this time of year with the colder water, hypothermia sets in very quickly and it doesn’t take long for you to become unresponsive,” Jackson said. “So water safety is something that we try to implement and encourage throughout the year.”
Open from 5:30pm – 9:30pm nightly, Light Up the Lake is free to the public to enter and ride through, however, donations are encouraged for anyone who can afford to give.
“A different nonprofit runs the gate each night and they get to share half of the profits with the Chamber,” Shaddox said. “It feels good to help other people at Christmas and it’s something to do for people around here so they don’t have to drive to Branson to see a light display.”
In total, 28 nonprofit organizations in and around the Hickory County area partnered with the Pomme de Terre Chamber of Commerce. Four Legs and Fur Animal Society is one, and they worked the gate on opening night.
Toni Childers is the animal society’s treasurer and she brought along nine-year-old Hazel Mattison to join in the celebrations, whose family adopted three four-legged, furry cats. Childers said it’s a great opportunity to support the communities that have supported their organization.
“It’s a fundraiser and we love it. We have fun, dress up, be silly, bring candy and talk to people. “We’ve been here since the first year and I don’t see us not doing that,” she said.
In addition to the light displays, Light Up the Lake also has lights on select nights and old St. Nicholas takes a break from his busy schedule to take photos with families every Saturday night.
While the nonprofits use their share of the proceeds to help sustain their organizations during the off season, the Pomme de Terre Chamber of Commerce uses theirs to fund another major event at Lake Pomme De Terre during the peak season of tourism.
“Last year we had 3,500 cars and for the chamber that raised about $13,000 that went toward the Independence Day fireworks display,” Shaddox said. “It’s the Corps [USACE] land, but the public can use it and see what body [USACE] does to help us. So to have all these opportunities to use these things is really great. We appreciate everything they do for us.”
