For majority of the month of December and ending on New Year’s Eve, Dam Site Park at Pomme De Terre Lake in Hermitage, Missouri, transforms a small section of the massive reservoir’s 113 miles of continuous shoreline into a majestic display of holiday cheer.
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 “Light Up the Lake.”
For the families of Hickory, Polk, St. Clair and other surrounding counties who come to the drive-thru style display, it’s the perfect opportunity to visit a familiar place to bask in the spirit of Christmas with their loved ones.
“This is wonderful. It’s one of the best drive-thru’ s we’ve ever been to,” Tom Huff said, 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 by while visiting a friend in Hermitage.
When speaking with his wife about the displays sponsored by local churches and religious non-profits 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 really like it. We may get the grandkids and be back before Christmas. I think they’ll love it,” he said. “It exceeded my expectations and it’s wonderful that the Corps [USACE] allowed this to happen.”
Huff and his wife were in just one of the more than 120 cars that drove through on the opening night of Dec. 4 to see the many displays strategically setup along the winding road leading in and out of Dam Site Park’s campground.
Chip Shaddox is the treasurer for the Pomme de Terre Chamber of Commerce and owner of Hickamo, a local Truckstop and café located in Wheatland, Missouri, nearly 10 miles east of the lake on U.S. Highway 54.
As the primary organizer for display sponsors, he said planning for the event can be a heavy lift for their five-man team. But it’s worth it since community members chip in to help with the setup starting in early November, and the teardown, which starts on New Year’s Day.
“This year we were able to get Hermitage High School to bring out 20 kids as volunteers and they helped put up the 35 arches you see all the way around the park. Then there’s a tunnel over 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 Pomme de Terre Lake during the slow winter months.
Based on appearances, it’s grown exponentially and quite faster than Shaddox and the local chamber expected.
“We started with about 28 people the first year and we also have nonprofits that set up displays. 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 would say definitely over a million lights.”
The 95 displays contain the usual Christmas characters like The Grinch, Santa Claus, reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.
Nevertheless, since each is associated with themes related to the individual sponsor or business, every 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 is the only one of its kind built directly into limestone, even participated in the holiday display fun, according to natural resource manager, Shannon Henry.
“Ours promotes water safety here at the lake. So, we have some lifejackets and water safety banners. But then we also have a camper because we provide the recreation opportunities here at the lake,” she said.
Park rangers Mitch Jackson and Devin Holt designed the USACE display, which also features a snowman family made from used tires.
Although the amount of people using the lake for water recreation decreases in the winter months, hunting recreation increases while fishing remains consistent, according to Jackson. These trends are why water safety remains paramount to USACE’s mission.
“The last thing we want to do is get a call, especially this time of year with colder water, hypothermia sets in very quick, and it doesn’t take long for you to become unresponsive,” Jackson said. “So, water safety is something that we try to enforce and encourage all year round.”
Open from 5:30 – 9:30 p.m. every night, “Light Up the Lake” is free to the public to enter the gate and drive through, however, donations are encouraged for anyone who can afford to give.
“A different nonprofit runs the entry gate each night and they get to split half the profits with the Chamber,” Shaddox said. “It feels good to help other people around Christmastime 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 nonprofits 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 treasurer for the animal society, and she brought nine-year-old Hazel Mattison along to join in the festivities, whose family adopted three cats from Four Legs and Fur. 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 a good time, we get to dress up, be silly, bring candy and talk to people. We’ve been here since the first year and I don’t ever see us not doing it,” she said.
In addition to the light displays, “Light Up the Lake” also has hayrides on select nights and old Saint Nicholas takes a break from his busy schedule to take pictures with families every Saturday night.
While the nonprofits use their portion of the proceeds to help keep their organizations afloat during the off-season, the Pomme de Terre Chamber of Commerce uses theirs to fund another major event at Pomme De Terre Lake during peak tourism season.
“Last year we had 3,500 cars come through and for the chamber that raised about $13,000 that went towards the fireworks show for Independence Day,” Shaddox said. “It’s the Corps [USACE] land, but the public gets to use it and see what the Corps [USACE] does to help us. So, having all these opportunities to use this stuff is really awesome. We appreciate everything they do for us.”
