"Sparkle in the Park" draws over 1,000 attendees

It’s the 2nd year for “Sparkle in the Park.”

Over a thousand people gathered Monday night to watch more than 4,000 Christmas lights illuminate the trees in “Central Park.”

“Everybody getting together and having a good time and stuff like that, and I want to also commend the city for doing this you know and Carthage Water and Electric. If you drove by here in the last 3 or 4 weeks, they did a lot of work on this to put these lights up, so I want to thank them for that. And it just brings the community out, it’s a good thing. // It’s Christmas and it’s a time we spend with family,” said The Silver Family.

Since September, nearly 90 employees of “Carthage Water and Electric” have been working to create this dazzling display.

“Carthage is a great place to live and visit, and I think what this does is just highlights a beautiful park in the City of Carthage and brings people to Carthage that maybe haven’t been here before, visiting other things going on in our holiday season and I hope they just see the sense of community pride that we all have in Carthage,” said Chuck Bryant, General Manager, CWEP.

This Christmas wonderland is made of 25 miles of stringed lights, making the park look like a scene from a “Hallmark” movie.

“I didn’t expect it to be this huge honestly. Like, I thought maybe a couple of the trees would be lit up, but this is a really good surprise,” said Amber, Visiting From Joplin.

Since the tradition began last year, both “C-W-E-P” and the community now look forward to it each year.

“We’ll be 125 years old next year. Giving back to our community means a lot to all of us. And this is a great gift that we can give to the community. And we’re excited to do this for as long as we possibly can,” said Bryant.

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