There were 662 vehicles go through the Trail of Lights during the 2016 holiday season. Below are the counts:
Barton County – 506
Pawnee County – 20
Rice County – 14
Kearny County – 10
Stafford County – 10
Edwards County – 9
Rush County – 8
Ellis County – 5
Johnson County – 5
Sedgwick County – 5
Ford County – 4
Ellsworth County – 3
Saline County – 3
Barber County – 2
Chase County – 2
Douglas County – 2
Harper County – 2
Reno County – 2
Riley County – 2
Counties with one tag recorded included: Anderson, Butler, Cloud, Cowley, Decatur, Dickinson, Finney, Kiowa, Leavenworth, Lincoln,
Mitchell, Morris, Pratt, Scott, Shawnee, Sherman and Washington.
The top five States were:
Kansas
Oklahoma
Colorado
Missouri
Texas &
Nebraska
Others Included: Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico and several military tags.
The numbers are in for the 2016 Trail of Lights and City of Great Bend officials are pleased with the outcome.
“Overall, it was great,” said Community Coordinator Christina Hayes. The trail is a massive annual undertaking involving city personnel who start installing the myriad displays starting before Thanksgiving, volunteers who man the Brit Spaugh Park trail head and Hayes who helps coordinate the activities.
In all, Hayes said 662 cars vehicles were recorded. Of those, 631 were from Kansas, six from Oklahoma, five from Colorado, four from Missouri and three from Texas and Nebraska. Others Included Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico and several military tags.
Of the Kansas license plates that were reported, 506 came from Barton County,20 from Pawnee County, 14 from Rice County, and 10 from Kearny and Stafford counties. Anderson, Butler, Cloud, Cowley, Decatur, Dickinson, Finney, Kiowa, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Mitchell, Morris, Pratt, Scott, Shawnee, Sherman and Washington counties each had one.
These figures are down from last year, but the totals are deceiving, Hayes said. There was less of an emphasis of having volunteers recording information this year and data was only recorded for 10 of the 27 days.
So, Hayes said if one looks at daily totals from years past as a guide, 2016 was probably about average.
The trail started at the south entrance to Brit Spaugh Park where the path was lined with animated displays and a light show set to music in front of the Brit Spaugh Zoo. Next, there was Veterans Memorial Park where “The 12 Days of Christmas” was illustrated in animated decorations.
In addition, there was a Christmas Nativity at K-96 & 10th Street and the Historical Village lights.
Downtown on the Barton County Courthouse Square, there was the Mayor’s tree. On the north side of the courthouse there was another light show set to music.
There is remodeling being done to the square’s north end to accommodate a splash pad and improvements to the Clayton L. Moses Memorial Bandshell. This meant the ice skating surface was not put in place this holiday season.
The trail officially opened Saturday, Nov. 26. It closed Tuesday, Jan. 2, when city personnel started taking down the displays.
