Lights are Shining - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Lights are Shining

A key fundraiser is back once again this year in Minot's Oak Park.

The Sertoma Christmas Lights display -- gone last year -- is lighting up the park.

Perry Olson has that tonight.

A Minot tradition has returned...Sertoma's Christmas in the Park -- rendered impossible last year following flooding in 2011, the displays are back and as bright as ever.

(Neil Scharpe - Sertoma Club of Minot) "We are just glad that it is back...and we have heard that from a number of different people.

Five dollars a car-load gets you through the display at Oak Park, and early numbers show plenty are rolling through. Receipts are up when compared to two years ago. The displays are eye-catching and certainly festive...but wouldn't be possible without lots of work that happened earlier this year. Electric co-ops from the region joined together to fix the infrastructure here to make it happen...

(Neil Scharpe - Sertoma Club of Minot) "Having all of those pedestals to replace was something Sertoma couldn't have done. It would have been next to impossible to do on our own."

The site was prepared...but the displays needed work as well. In the craziness that was the evacuation before the Mouse River Flood, Sertoma's displays stored at Oak Park were left to soak. Members were concerned with homes that needed evacuation -- not a shed in a park holding the lights...

(Neil Scharpe - Sertoma Club of Minot) "We had to revamp all of the displays and make sure things were working. A lot of the movement and things with the lights are done with electronic controllers. All of those were sent off and brought back."

But they have come back looking strong...and put Sertoma back in the drivers seat for doing good throughout the city.

(Neil Scharpe - Sertoma Club of Minot) "This has given us the opportunity to get back into what we do...as a service club, donate money back to activities and projects in the city of Minot."

And bring some Christmas cheer too...

(Neil Scharpe - Sertoma Club of Minot) "It looks good...it is fun to do."

In Minot, Perry Olson, KX News.

Scharpe says you can look for a larger and improved display next year as well...those plans are already in the works.

The display is open daily from six until ten from now until the end of the year.