On the day after Thanksgiving, thousands of visitors will flock to the Courthouse Square in Newark to witness the Licking County Courthouse all lit up with sparkling holiday lights. From classic multi-colored strings to rows of blue icicles, the spectacle is one of magic and merriment.
The courthouse lighting ceremony is a free public event that offers a variety of fun activities, with vendors from the Canal Market District selling holiday treats and other goods and Grace Vineyard Church’s traditional popcorn and hot chocolate stand.
At 6 p.m., school choirs put on performances along with other local musicians and an act by Barefoot McCoy, the music director for the event. As a grand finale to the evening, Santa comes all the way from the Newark Fire Department to use his “Christmas magic” to set the courthouse aglow for the crowd to admire.
“It’s probably one of the singular events that people all over Licking County look forward to and are able to enjoy the entire Christmas season,” said Spencer Barker, member of Newark City Council and director of the Licking County Courthouse Lighting Committee.
Past lighting ceremonies have brought 5,000 people into the square, Barker said.
This year is the Licking County Courthouse Lighting Committee’s 77th time celebrating the Christmas lighting of the courthouse, and preparations are well underway.
The Courthouse Lighting Committee is planning a lot of reinvestments for repairs to the decorations on the courthouse lawn as well as maintenance on the lights covering the building. This year, the council hopes to raise $50,000 to help ensure the display remains beautiful and bright.
“This is not your typical home lighting project,” Barker said. “It’s actually a very big commercial-grade lighting event.”
From the roof level to the top of the dome, all the lights are permanent LEDs that are installed and stay up year-round. All the lighting below those lights is installed by an RS electrical service hired by the council.
Donations can be made online at courthouselighting.com/donate or sent by mail to the Licking County Courthouse Lighting Committee, P.O. Box 292, Newark, OH 43055.
The council had reached 40% of its funding goal as of Monday, Oct. 13.
“It’s a bit slow because of donor fatigue; we kind of see this at the end of the year, but we’re always able to get the community to rally behind it,” Barker said.
While it is believed by some that the county’s tax dollars pay for the whole event, the county actually only pays for the electricity bill. It is mostly through donations that the event’s decorations hold up year after year.
“This is something that the kids will remember for generations down the line. So really the donations are there to make sure that the lighting takes place year after year for everyone to enjoy,” said Olivia Biggs, the Licking County Courthouse Lighting Committee communications chair.
The courthouse lighting ceremony will take place on Nov. 28 in front of the Licking County Courthouse. The fundraising period ends on Oct. 20.
“[The event] is pretty personal for me,” Barker says. “At the end of the show when the buildings all lit up and seeing those kids’ faces light up and smile…that’s what makes all the work worth it.”
Shaye Phillips writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.