Attendance, donations rise for Light Up Middletown

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Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Light Up Middletown, the annual holiday light display, ended Dec. 31.

Holiday drive-through lights display connects with visitors

By Eric Robinette, Staff Writer Updated 8:26 AM Tuesday, January 5, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — The lights have come down, but attendance was up at Light Up Middletown.

The drive-through holiday lights display at Smith Park, which just wrapped its 11th year of operation, saw 54,550 people in 16,106 vehicles — including 70 buses — in 2009. That’s a 17 percent increase over last year’s attendance of 46,467, according to statistics provided by Ann Mort, the publicist for the event.

Donations were on the rise as well, with visitors contributing $35,436, up 20 percent from last year’s $30,673. That works out to a donation of $2.20 per vehicle, or 65 cents per person.

The record high for visits is still the opening year, 1999, which saw 61,314 visitors. The record year for donations was 2007, which brought in $35,481,

Mort estimated that the 2009 Light Up Middletown brought in more than $3 million to local businesses.

Despite the weak economy, attendance and donations went up because Light Up Middletown has gained in its reputation through the years. Sixty-eight percent of the visitors came from Butler County, 17 percent from Warren County, 8 from Montgomery County and the rest were from outlying areas.

“We have become a growing tradition. More and more folks are knowing this is good thing to do during the holiday season,” Mort said.

It also helps that Light Up Middletown charges only by donation, whereas other area displays have a fixed price, but “we think our display” ranks up there with the best of them.

Donations go toward the purchase and upkeep of the displays. Organizers already have started looking at catalogs to try to get discounts on new displays, Mort said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.

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