Willowdale Winter Wonderland to open tonight

The Willowdale subdivision north of St. Joseph has created a winter wonderland.

Resident Lacey Smith organized the multi-night event which features more than 20 homes decorated in Christmas lights.

The event starts Dec. 10.

“I love Christmas,” she said. “And we have a fantastic neighborhood.”

When Smith moved to Willowdale in 2015, she heard the neighborhood used to decorate for Christmas quite a bit.

“The idea just popped in my head that one day I would like to organize this for the community,” she said. “In the fall of 2019 we had some neighbors over for a bonfire and I casually brought the idea up. Everyone was interested and plans began to form for Willowdale Winter Wonderland.”

Smith said the event has brought the neighborhood together.

“It’s been a fun way to connect as a neighborhood-planning out what lights we want to put out and comparing ideas,” she said.

The subdivision includes everything from a lighted kickball field to lots of Santas and Snowmen.

“It looks really cool,” Smith said. “You can feel the excitement in the air among the neighbors. As we’ve been decorating, lots of people have been out walking and checking out one another’s displays, it’s been really fun to do this together as a neighborhood.”

Smith said many in the neighborhood are making plans for how they want to change their displays next year.

“Many of us are making plans for how we want to make this bigger and better next year,” she said. “We plan to hit up the after Christmas sales for more decorations, that’s for sure.”

The decorations will be on through Jan. 1.