Wreaths all decked out for a Seuss-style Christmas adorning colonial-style lamp posts will light the way through this holiday season at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park.
The 2014 Lamplight Christmas Wreath exhibit opened Monday and will continue through the Old Christmas Celebration during the first weekend of January.
Sycamore Shoals Park Manager Jennifer Bauer said 19 wreaths had been registered so far and displayed on decorative lamp posts and placed strategically throughout the Visitors Center.
“The show is looking great,” Bauer said. “There is excellent participation this year.”
The theme for this year’s wreath exhibit is “The Wonderful World of Seuss,” the same as the theme for the Elizabethton Christmas parade, to be held Saturday.
Bauer said participants showed off their creativity getting into the theme of the Seuss-focused decorations.
“The decorations are awesome,” Bauer said. “They have come up with some of the most colorful ideas. It is not the traditional Christmas look. It’s a lot of fun, and there’s no doubt the folks in the community will enjoy their creativity.”
Employees of Sycamore Shoals park made the lamp posts for the show. The wooden posts topped with metal lanterns are made to look like early colonial-style lamp posts. Each lantern has a battery-powered candle for ambient light.
“The historic lamp posts take us back in time a little,” Bauer said. “They were made to create the effect of days gone by.”
Sycamore Shoals started the wreath exhibit in 2010 to replace the annual Winterfest Christmas Tree exhibit after construction started on the new historic museum in the visitors center.
While people do miss the tree exhibit, visitors do enjoy the wreath exhibit, Bauer said.
“The people say it is just as much fun to prepare the wreaths as it was the trees,” she said. “The community does enjoy the wreaths, and the majority do still participate.”
Participants of the 2014 wreath exhibit include Girl Scout Troop #56, Girl Scout Troop #49, Pine Ridge Care and Rehabilitation, the Dawn of Hope, Sycamore Stitchers Quilt Club, Lake Terrace UETHDA Headstart, the Business Professional Women’s Club, Unaka High School Key Club, Elizabethton Women’s Civic Club, Ronnie Lai, Chad Bailey, Edward Jones Investments and Ivy Hall Nursing Home.
For more information, call Sycamore Shoals Park at 543-5808.