The Christmas City of the High Plains

The Christmas City of the High Plains. . The annual holiday tradition of The Christmas City of The High Plains began in 1950. The downtown is turned into a holiday showplace every year. Highlighting this annual tradition is a handmade 35 ft tree of fresh pine greenery with over 2,000 lights., The tree rests under a canopy of heavenly blue lights in the middle of the main intersection. It is topped with four ivory stars each 5 ft in diameter., The Downtown is draped with greenery garlands, handcrafted wreaths, bells, stars, trees, and more lights. In all, there are over 6,300 lights, 3 miles of electrical wiring, 600 lbs of fresh pine greenery, and 100 yards of greenery roping in the display. The handcrafted decorations from the 1950s are still used today., The idea was born in 1948 by two local businessmen. Art Keraus, the owner of Keraus Hardware, “was a man who could be anything.” His fellow businessman, J.H. “Jake” Heckman, was the local banker and talented artist. Together these two men masterminded the holiday display, which was designed and built in the basement of Keraus Hardware. If you gaze west across the street, this building still stands with “Keraus” blazoned on the upper glasswork. They spent hours making sure that the decorations were just right. Many local community members helped to build and erect the holiday decorations. The display was first lit in 1950, decorations were added each year until 1956, when they announced that the project “had reached its peak.” They felt the display was “nearing perfection.” Through the years, there has only been one addition. During the 1990s, all the downtown buildings were outlined in over 2,000 perimeter lights, which remain lit year-round. In 2018, the perimeter lights were replaced with LED color-changing lights., The tree is lit each year by Santa Claus at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Festival, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The display remains lit until after New Year's. This annual tradition is considered one of the largest Christmas displays between Kansas City and Denver.