Displays draw tourism

Kimberling City’s Port of Lights has been an area favorite since 1990. The three-mile route boasts more than 75 displays – some animated – and two drive-through tunnels.

“It’s just kind of a beautiful winter wonderland,” said Cindy Morris, president of the Table Rock Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. Port of Lights is open seven days a week Nov. 3 through Dec. 31. Admission is $7 per family or $1 per person for tours. “Our whole project is paid for through corporate sponsorship, adoption of displays, admission and donations. Annually we raise and spend about $130,000 on this project. The revenue it generates is used strictly for displays,” Morris said. The display brings in more than 20,000 vehicles each year, with an average of three people per vehicle.

Morris believes that the revenue directly generated by the display is only a small part of its benefit to the community.

“It brings a lot of tourists to our community to enjoy just one more fun opportunity. It also benefits us through the tax dollars it brings in – people who stop to get gas or a soda or hot chocolate – that’s tax dollars for our community. We get large numbers of people from Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma,” she said. Arkansas residents comprise the largest number of out-of-state visitors, she said.

Port of Lights is largely a volunteer effort. Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch in Lampe offers help to the project, as well as Teen Challenge. In an effort to involve students more fully in community endeavors, Reed Spring school’s Gibson Technical Center offers a course in which students receive credit for helping with the display.

“We wanted to get the chamber and the school system working better together since we have an interest in what happens in the school district and the school district has an interest in what is going on in the community,” Morris said. “We also have about 25 other volunteers who spend anywhere from three to 150 hours helping us out, married couples and single people, people from the community” said Morris.

Monett lights

In 2003, its first year, Monett’s Festival of Lights was a resounding success.

“We had over 10,000 cars drive through and gave away over 24,000 candy canes,” said Monett Chamber of Commerce Administrative Assistant Judy Grishaber. Monett’s second Festival of Lights runs Nov. 19-Dec. 26. The drive-through display is free, but donations are welcome. The city of Monett and the Monett Chamber of Commerce split the donations the display generates. The city applies its half to storage and maintenance costs, while the chamber reinvests the money in new displays. Both organizations donate time to the effort, as do community members who volunteer for the project.

For its first year, Monett debuted the Festival of Lights with 22 major displays. This year, there are 32, Grishaber said.

“The local businesses buy each display (as) an opportunity for them to give back to the community. The displays are bought through corporate sponsorship only. The city does not purchase any displays. I am amazed, and I think everyone has been amazed, at how well received this has been,” she added.

Grishaber estimated that about $200,000 is invested in Monett’s light display with the 10 new displays that have been purchased, and she hopes the second year will be even better.

“It’s right on (highways) 37 and 60, so we had a lot of people stop by who were on their way to Montana or New Hampshire (and) drive through. We hope to have even more people this year as word gets around,” she said.

Monett also has added a Festival of Flavors to the opening night of its Festival of Lights. The Festival of Flavors will be held 5:45- 7:45 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Monett Park Casino. The event will be decorated by three Monett florists and will feature food from 15 area restaurants. Festival of Flavors tickets were sold through Nov. 12.

In Branson

More than 5 million lights twinkle in the Branson Area Festival of Lights, also known as BAFOL.

“When we talk about BAFOL, there are two aspects to it. There is the area lighting, which is a combination of things that the chamber of commerce puts up in various locations. In the bigger context, it is what business owners and other groups do to adorn their properties this time of year,” said Jennifer McCullough, director of pubic relations for the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce.

Branson’s Festival of Lights Parkway is located on the north side of Branson, just off Highway 65 in the Branson Hills development.

“It is just a wonderful backdrop. They have all of the infrastructure, the streets and streetlights. The displays are put up by Universal Concepts (and) they are animated displays, they are not just static,” McCullough said.

The display is funded by business and individual sponsors, and admission is $7 per family vehicle and $50 per commercial vehicle. The display is staffed primarily by volunteers.

The Festival of Lights Parkway is open 5 p.m.-midnight Nov. 1 through Jan. 1. In 2003, according to chamber estimates, 30,000 family vehicles and 1,100 commercial vehicles visited the display.

“People will make trips specifically to see lighting displays. Of course, while they are in town, tourists enjoy many other things, but the idea behind BAFOL was to give tourists another reason to come to Branson,” McCullough said.

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