Conneaut Lake Holiday in the Park 12/19/04

I was lucky enough to squeeze in a trip to the second annual Holiday in the Park at Conneaut Lake Park on the last day of this great event. Despite very frigid cold temperatures and blowing wind, I made it to the park safely. The snowfall definitely put you in the holiday spirit. The Hotel looked even better than last year, with the lobby and ballroom decked out with the different themed trees entered as part of the tree decorating contest. As a fund raiser for the park, you could vote on your favorite tree by donating money for the people's choice award. There were also several trees donated by various businesses as part of a silent auction.

The bar off to the side of the lobby looked really nice as well with various goodies to purchase including homemade pies, cookies, and apple dumplings. I chatted to a local photographer who was selling beautiful photos of the hotel that he took with the winter back drop. He also had some nice pictures of the Lake and the Blue Streak station where he takes his digital photos and adds some effects to make them look like watercolors.

This year the event expanded into the BeachClub which was filled with more trees, entertainment (an Elvis Singer and some Doo-Wop acts) and various Chinese and silent auctions. There were some really nice prints of various shots of the park that were up for sale on the silent auctions. I'd like to be able to find out more information to see if these artists have more of these prints to offer.

Unfortunately it was too cold that night to offer the horse drawn wagon ride through the park. A local bus company did donate a shuttle bus and drivers to give you a ride through the midway. The horse wagon rides evidentally were not as successful as the traditional open sleigh that they had last year.

The hosts at Conneaut could not have been nicer. My thanks to all of them for having such a nice event. Especially with the winter backdrop, it was a definite highlight of the Christmas season so far for me.

So, how many days till opening day?

I didn't get to make it there at all this year. Hope the park is still there next year.
I love that hotel. stayed there many times.