by Lou Braswell
The third Christmas in July event certainly did not seem anything like Christmas temperatures, but definitely was July.
The event was Saturday evening at Wyandotte County Lake, 91st and Leavenworth Road.
Temperatures approaching the 100-degree mark did not keep the enthusiasm away. Everyone was enjoying the activities, games for the kids, prizes, food and lots of Christmas decorations on the grounds, then the decorated pontoons.
Some of the pontoon boats had pets riding along. As we judged one of the entries, music played with dogs singing , and the live dogs sang as back-ups.
Then as it seemed to get warmer and the soft small breeze vanished, up pulled a pontoon to the judging area and showered us with a snow storm, yes artificial snow, but we let “mind over matter” kick in , and pretended it was the real thing.
All the pontoons were super, some said it was their first year and apologized for not having a lot of decoration, but promised to be back next year with flair. To those new entries we said thank you for participating and see you in 2017. This event is one in which everyone can get involved, with or without a pontoon.
As we watched the parade of pontoons, after the sun goes down , with the Christmas lights glimmering on the water, it began to feel it was really getting cooler, and Christmas was in the air. Whoa, it was suddenly back to July as the fireworks began, again a great addition to the 2016 event. Where else can you celebrate two seasons in one evening of fun?
I look forward to it each year, thank-you to Wyandotte County Parks for bringing this to our beautiful Wyandotte County Lake, and I am looking forward to the 2017 event.
Lou Braswell is the executive director of the Leavenworth Road Association.
Last year my family and I came too late but we did get to see all of the pontoons coming to dock, it was awesome! Won’t miss it this year!