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Dickinson Gathers to Prep for Christmas Festival of Lights

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By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

How many hands does it take to transform John Hopkins Park into a Christmas wonderland for the Dickinson Festival of Lights? So far this year, just about 700 hands have been engaged in putting together the display of over 1.5 million lights for visitors to enjoy with no entrance fee. 

Those 700 hands are connected to 350 individuals. Some have been working on the festival for decades, while others are newcomers. 

Ken Suderman, president of Dickinson Festival of Lights Society, has volunteered his hands for 18 years. His father, Charles Suderman has been a dedicated volunteer for 19 years.

Donna Suderman, who has also been a longtime volunteer, summed up why she has dedicated countless weekends of her life to the project. “The excited faces of the children when they first see the display is what makes it all worthwhile for me,” said Donna. 

Other hands are those of regional high school students who need to complete community service hours. Other hands belong to Galveston County residents on probation and are court-mandated to complete community service hours. 

Numerous hands are also those of people in the area who just want to be a part of creating an extraordinary Christmas light festival for everyone to enjoy. Some volunteers serve for a few hours and others come out every weekend from the last weekend in September till the lights are turned on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It is estimated that 10,000 hours of volunteer labor are put into setting up, running, and taking down the festival. It takes about 3,000-4,000 pounds of extension cords to run electricity to the lights. “One year our fluorescent purple extension cord went missing,” Charles Suderman recalls with a smile. 

There are 25-30 original hand designs that have been with the festival since its early years. The light festival was the brainchild of two neighbors in Dickinson who just wanted to treat people to a free Christmas light festival. 

The displays include alligators, sea life, mariachis, drummer boys, bugle boys, tunnels of lights, a Nativity scene, palm trees, a display of each of the U.S. military branches, a U.S. flag, candy canes, Christmas presents, Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, all things Christmas including Santa, and oh so much more are all brought to life in a brilliantly designed display of lights weaving throughout the park. 

A cookie factory decked out like Christmas, of course, is situated near the entrance. Kids and adults can decorate a sugar cookie for just $1.

In the beginning, there were only 100,000 lights. The festival was held on a much-smaller piece of land at Hwy 3 and 44th in Dickinson. It only took five years for attendance to grow in numbers so that it couldn’t be contained on the small plot, so it was relocated to the park. 

The highest attendance was in 2008, the year Hurricane Ike struck the region with the visitor count reaching into 80,000. 

This year, no one is sure what to expect in number of visitors. But one thing they do know for sure, they are prepared for the possibility of something going wrong.

“We work closely with the Dickinson Police Department and have a plan for almost any type of emergency. We can shut down the park in one minute if needed,” said Ken Suderman. 

The festival has gone through emergency readiness drills and training. 

The team of volunteers will be working on assembling the festival all the way through till they open the gates for their first visitors on this Saturday, November 27. “Thanksgiving is the only day I’ll take off this week, otherwise I’ll be divorced,” said Ken Suderman. 

He chuckles and adds, “So will almost everyone else,” 

For more information regarding hours and parking or if you want to lend a hand, you can visit their website at:  https://www.dfoltx.com/en/

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