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Monday, December 11, 1989 / University Daily Kansas
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RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH BALLOONS
Contest turns into tradition Neighborhood flooded with Christmas lights and sightseers
By Bryan Swan
Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
It started eight years ago as a game of Christmas one-upmanship between a few neighbors. Now it is a game of attracts visitors from all over Tepeda.
The lights that adorn the houses, bushes, trees and sidewalks of the Oak Hills neighborhood are an eye-dazzling collection of glowing reds, blues, greens and whites. Decorations ranging from reindeer to noel candies can be found in numerous lawns.
Dale and Rosalie Griffith are used to all this, and in part, are responsible for starting it. Eight years ago they decided to get into a contest with a few of their neighbors to see who could win the arrangement of Christmas lights.
"It started as a contest between four of us at first." Rosalie Griffith said. "We would hide in the basement and do our wiring there, like a big
secret so no one would know. Every year we would try to outdo each other, and it caught on. Now, pressure from other families has spread it over the last four years."
Dale Griffith said the Christmas spirit routinely deprived him of his ladder and staple gun, as all his neighbors scrambled to get their lights and decorations in place by the end of Thanksgiving.
"I vowed I wouldn't add more than $100 a year until I got the house how I wanted it," Griffith said. "It costs $75 a month for the electricity, too."
She said that now she joked with new neighbors, telling them that when they signed the contract to buy their house they also agreed to put up lights during the holiday season and follow the tradition.
"The first three years just a few of us did it, but now the last couple of years four or five new houses have been built and that increases an already large number," he said.
John Marobi, who moved into the neighborhood in April from Minnesota, said he enjoyed participating in the tradition.
Marholi said he was surprised by the amount of traffic that flooded the tiny neighborhood just to see the lights.
"It's nice, like a whole city out here at night," he said. "It's fun, and I'll do more to the house next year. I like to go out and see people about 1,600 to 1,800 lights up now."
"The traffic hasn't started yet; this is only part of it," he said. "Soon it will be bumper-to-bumper, 'all the way down the street.'"
Rosalie Griffith said that the neighborhood had asked the police to put in one-way signs to prevent the area's numerous cul-de-sacs from becoming miniature versions of gridlock, but that the idea didn't work.
She said that the Topeka Trolley and vans from nursing homes and hospitals also visited the neighborhood.
Snowcreek opens next week
Bv Lisa Moss
Kansan staff writer
There are differences between skiing in Weston, Mo., and skiing in Colorado, but Weston is easier to get to.
Snowcreek is a ski area covered with man-made snow, said Linda Grenier, Snowcreek business manager.
The snow is made by snow guns that mix air and water at freezing temperatures to produce snow, she said.
"It is done much the same as mother, Nature, but it is more forceful."
The temperature has to be 30 degrees Fahrenheit to produce the snow. When temperatures are in the teens more snow can be produced, she said.
Grenier said that there were misconceptions that the snow was artificial, but she said that it was real.
Mark Lesher, Triangle fraternity rush chairman, said that he had organized two group trips to Snow-creek last year.
"It's a good deal because they reduce the price for the group," he said. "For being as far away from
the mountains as we are, it is fun. It is as fun as Colorado? No." he said
He said that the two times he was there the chair lift lines were not long.
"The runs are short, but they are fun." he said.
"I go to Colorado just about every year," he said. "For a day it (Snow-creek) is pretty good."
Scott Canfield, Great Bend senior,
said that he had skied at Snowcreek
once last year.
Canfield said that the prices at Snowcreek were reasonable.
Snowcrew has 11 runs, two tripe-
chair lifts and three rope tows.
And for those who need help, there is a complete ski school that has all levels of lessons available.
Snowcreek opened temporarily for Thanksgiving weekend.
Grenier said that the slopes will open Dec. 15. Snowcreek will be open seven days a week: Monday through Thursday from 1 to 10 p.m., and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and midnight to 6 a.m. Midnight sessions will not begin until
Because of the warm weather and because there was not a lot of publicity about the opening, the slopes were not very crowded, Grenier said.
Grenier said that a lot of college students skied on Friday and Saturday during the late hours.
after Jan. 1.
Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. is teen night, a discount night for younger people including college students.
"You don't have to be a teen," Grenier said. "It is just called teen night and you have things that suit to younger people and plan different events."
She said that there were no age restrictions for the discount. The special is $20 for a lift ticket and ski rental.
Group discounts also are available for 25 or more people and can be arranged in advance through the group coordinator.
This year, for the first time, Snow-
Year's Eve from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Grenier said that this would be a non-alcoholic celebration.
"So if someone wants to celebrate this, this would be a good place to do it."
During the week of Christmas,
Snowcreek will be open from 9 a.m.
to 10 p.m. The slopes will be closed
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Tree farm harvests Christmas business
By Jim Petterson Kangan staff writer
About 25 miles northeast of Lawrence, over a hill and across a gravel road from what Tom Higgins calls the "radar golf ball," is possibly the largest Christmas tree farm in Kansas.
Dutchman's Forest tree farm, just east of Oksaloosa, is on 200 acres of rolling Kansas hills. Higgins, one of the farm's operators, stood on the porch of a farmhouse and surveyed the land before him.
He pointed to his left and said, "We've got 200,000 trees planted out there."
To his right was a grove of Locust trees. Just beyond the trees, across a field of yellow grass, was the "golf ball."
"That's really the radar for Kansas City International Airport," he said.
The tree farm, or forest, covers the entire side of a large hill near the house and continues on behind an aging white barn.
"We've got the largest Christmas tree farm in Kansas," Higgins said as he cleared off a spot on a ragged couch in the farmhouse and sat down. "All number one, Scotch Pines. That means there's no holes in them."
Dutchman's Forest is a "choose and cut" tree farm owned by Steve Vanderweide of Lake City, Mich., Higgins said.
"We give families wagon rides out to the field and they can select and cut down their own trees," he said. "Once they get their tree, they can come to the barn and have coffee. They will go to the barn and a fire so people can set warm."
Ed Themw is in charge of driving the tractor-drawn cart filled with potential lumberjacks into the forest.
"Families come out here and the kids like running through the trees," he said. "They always walk from one end to the other before they find the tree, then turn around and let their younger sons cut down the tree they choose."
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