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<\/p>\nI\u2019ve just returned from what has become in less than a decade one of our most cherished Christmas traditions, one that encompasses nostalgia, bittersweet memories, a road trip, and history.\u00a0 It was a visit to Frankfort, population 16,500 or thereabouts, seat of Clinton County, Indiana.\u00a0 Founded in 1830, Frankfort (named in honor of the Frankfurt in Germany) boasts an impressive 1882 courthouse\u2013and a high school whose athletic teams are the Hot Dogs.\u00a0 The city government is now housed in the once-endangered old high school, fondly known as \u201cOld Stoney,\u201d a massive Romanesque Revival edifice constructed in 1892.\u00a0 The county historical society\u2019s museum occupies the second floor.<\/p>\n
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But our visit was not to these wonderful buildings, but to TPA Park northeast of downtown.\u00a0 \u201cTPA\u201d stands for Travelers Protective Association, an organization founded in the early twentieth century when automobile travel was in its infancy. (I was amazed to discover that the organization still exists over a hundred years later. \u00a0Travelers Protective Association<\/a>)<\/p>\n The park, dedicated one hundred years ago, is a gem, laden with history, several examples of New Deal construction by the WPA and NYA, a petting zoo and aviary, and an intriguing little former fountain by sculptor Jon Magnus Jonson.\u00a0 Every December, however, the park undergoes a magical transformation into a Christmas fairyland.<\/p>\n Let me say that I have always loved the lights of Christmas.\u00a0 There were not that many in the rural community in which I grew up, save for a huge fir across from the elementary school that a group of homeowners in the area always strung with hundreds of lights.\u00a0 Going into town (South Bend or LaPorte) and seeing the many colored lights on houses and in trees at Christmas time was a joy.\u00a0 Later on, traveling through the lonely December landscape after a visit to my mother, I was always heartened by the occasional brave displays on isolated farmhouses and especially cheered when going through small towns.\u00a0 When she came down to visit me at Christmas, we often drove around to the fancy neighborhoods to ooh and aah.\u00a0 (This was before the computer-generated, music-coordinated flashdance travesties one sometimes sees today.)\u00a0 Later still, my mother, a former WAVE in World War II, moved into the Indiana Veterans Home in West Lafayette.\u00a0 I visited her weekly and when December came, took her for drives to see the lights.\u00a0 As Mom\u2019s health worsened and the visits became more painful, I sometimes took alternative routes home to clear my mind.\u00a0 It was on one such meander that I passed through Frankfort and caught sight in the distance of Christmas lights in TPA Park.\u00a0 As drawn to it as the proverbial moth, I was astonished at the wonderland this little town had created.\u00a0 It was just what I needed.\u00a0 Happily, I was able to take Mom to see this vision before she was unable to get out at all.\u00a0 It was so incredible, all the more since Frankfort is such a small city.\u00a0 And they do it every year.<\/p>\n It is difficult to convey the scope of this effort: eighty-five acres filled with over a million lights!\u00a0 All the buildings are transformed; one\u2013at least by night\u2013becomes a crystalline castle. Throughout the park the trees are all strung with various colors; it is a fantasyland, and I am a child again and yet old as time.\u00a0 The displays are amusing or sweet, and many are animated.\u00a0 (I especially like the dancing Hot Dog at the park entrance.)\u00a0 The Twelve Days of Christmas are each illustrated with appropriate figures (the four calling birds sit on telephones); Santa appears in numerous fanciful tableaux, and one may drive beneath a gigantic holly wreath arch or through a lovely tunnel of lights.\u00a0 Of course, there is a manger scene.\u00a0 A Star of Bethlehem shines over all.\u00a0 The electric bill is astonishing.\u00a0 Created mostly with donations and volunteer labor (including Santa himself, passing out candy canes), the holiday display is maintained through New Year\u2019s Day..\u00a0 Within the park is a modest little coffee shop serving hot drinks, delicious soups and sandwiches\u2013and the place was packed, filled with families and multiple generations of people, most of whom were smiling.\u00a0 Folks come in droves.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gone in snow, when the sparkling lights are multiplied in the crystals, and in rain, which diffuses the colors into a dream.<\/p>\n This time it was warm, and I had the window open to let in the wonder.\u00a0 I could feel Mom\u2019s presence and all those Christmases past and all that is special about a small town\u2013and something more.<\/p>\n I’ve included no pictures; none could capture it. \u00a0You’ll just have to see it for yourself.<\/p>\n (But here\u2019s their website:\u00a0 Frankfort Indiana Holiday of Lights<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve just returned from what has become in less than a decade one of our most cherished Christmas traditions, one that encompasses nostalgia, bittersweet memories, a road trip, and history.\u00a0 It was a visit to Frankfort, population 16,500 or thereabouts, … Continue reading ![\"Stone](\"http:\/\/farm7.staticflickr.com\/6060\/5899704356_12aaacea84_s.jpg\")
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