Former parks director donates Recreation Park collage and summarizes ‘Celebration of Lights’ fundraising

Reed Kirkpatrick, a former Parks and Recreation director, presented a historical collage of Recreation Park and summarized the city’s recent Celebration of Lights fundraising at the City Commission meeting on Jan. 13, 2025.

Kirkpatrick told the commission he oversaw the park’s development and dedicated the collage — created during the park’s 1992 dedication — to the city as a historical record and gift.

Kirkpatrick then reviewed the seventh year of the Celebration of Lights display and related fundraising, saying the event raised a total of $37,785.30 for the year. He provided line-item figures: the Jingle Bell Run raised $3,650; sales at the Cocoa Shack totaled $5,173.95; corporate donations were listed as $45,100; gate donations collected by volunteers amounted to $23,961.35. Kirkpatrick said those figures combine to the $37,785.30 total after accounting for costs and noted the total was about $4,100 shy of the previous year’s $41,900 figure.

Kirkpatrick attributed the event’s success to volunteers and sponsors. He named Ben Ponce, community services director; Jacob Nelson, park superintendent; and Jason Scott, building and grounds staff, for setup and electrical work. He also acknowledged corporate and local donors, including Flow Logistics, ProMan, XL (corporate donors), and private donors Wendell and Charlotte Schultz. He mentioned the Davis family for running the Cocoa Shack and Chicken Express for donating cookies.

Kirkpatrick described key event nights and their fundraising impact: Jingle Bell Run (family event and fundraiser), a live nativity presented by Briarwood Church (noted as a top fundraising night), and Reindeer Night, which he said brought in more than $25,100 in gate donations and drew long lines. He estimated attendance by citing an average donation of $3 per vehicle and an approximate total of 12,600 vehicles and roughly 40,000 people visiting the park from Thanksgiving through New Year’s; he explicitly presented those as estimates derived from the $3-per-car calculation.

He also described operational challenges the crew handled, such as rodents damaging wiring in storage, and credited volunteers and community groups (including WK Partyology and Rhodes Ranch, which sponsored Reindeer Night) for supporting logistics. Kirkpatrick said the city staff and administration also worked one night during the run to support the event.

The commission accepted the collage for the city and thanked Kirkpatrick and staff for the recap and the work on the event.

Kirkpatrick’s remarks were delivered during the public-comment portion of the Jan. 13 meeting and were recorded in the meeting transcript.