By: Jennifer Gulley

For the last 18 years, Fayetteville officials have transformed the Historic Downtown Square into a winter wonderland with thousands of lights, joyful music and family fun as the holiday season begins.

Between hot chocolate and a carriage ride underneath the twinkling lights, it’s hard not to get into the Christmas spirit.

Nearly 450,000 lights are hung by the Parks and Recreation crew, who spends six weeks and more than 2,000 hours making sure that the light displays are perfect.

At the beginning of the season, the Parks and Recreation Department decides on a color scheme and design, but the rest of the creative decisions are left to those hanging the lights. Nathan Albertson, who has been a part of the Parks Department for seven years, said he looks forward to this part of his job.

“It’s satisfying work, and I especially like when the children stop to watch us hang the lights, because you can tell that it makes them think of Christmas and Santa Claus. You can see it in their eyes,” Albertson said.

Over the past seven years, the crew has been working to phase out the traditional incandescent lights for environmentally friendly LED bulbs. The entire square will be lit with 100 percent LED lights this year.

“They are a bit more expensive, but they more than make up for the upfront cost with the time and energy they save,” said Bryon Humphry, park maintenance superintendent. “They are virtually indestructible. The city hasn’t had to replace a single LED bulb yet compared to the old strands that would last only one, maybe two years, if they were lucky.”

Hospitality management students at the UA plan and promote the “Over the Hill We Glow” parade that kicks off the Lights of the Ozarks season on Nov. 19.

The students book the vendors for the event and find sponsors, organizations and businesses to create floats for the parade.

They also organized the promotion of the event with media such as KNWA, Cumulus Radio and CitiScapes.

“This is the fourth year that the university has been involved in the Lights of the Ozarks and in those four years, the attendees and the vendors that participate have tripled,” said UA Charles Ogbeide, hospitality management professor.

Brandon Karn, owner of Jammin Java coffee shop, said that the busiest business day by far is opening night of Lights of the Ozarks.

“The night of the parade we use about 60 gallons of milk for hot chocolate,” Karn said.

The coffee shop staff is so busy that this year they plan to open a second location in the Old Post Office, he said.

Next door to Jammin Java is Tiny Tim’s Pizza, another business that benefits from the lights.

“We get so busy that we have to hire new staff and ask existing staff to work extra hours,” said John Schmuecker, owner of Tiny Tim’s. “The lights are really good for business, but it’s easy for the employees to get overwhelmed with the amount of people.”

In fact, the restaurant gets so busy that the Tiny Tim’s annual Christmas party is bumped up to the weekend before Thanksgiving every year.

“While it’s extremely busy during the holiday season, it’s well worth it,” Schmuecker said. “The lights bring in new business and seasonal visitors that come to the Fayetteville square just for the annual festivities.”