‘Candy Cane Lane’ returns to Holiday Park at Krug
By Chris Fortune
A beloved holiday decoration and St. Joseph staple will help illuminate the entrance to Holiday Park this Friday night.
Workers spent about 20 hours over the last two days working to bring “Candy Cane Lane” back and pay homage to the decoration that got its start during the 1960s in a two-block stretch on Eugene Field Avenue.
“The families that lived along the two-block stretch, they took it upon themselves to decorate their homes to create the yards, to line the roadways with candy canes,” said Jeff Adkins, assistant parks director for the St. Joseph Parks and Recreation Department. “And they opened their neighborhood up to the citizens of the the surrounding area.”
Atkins said families on Candy Cane Lane voted to disband the display in 1970 after experiencing vandalism and additional costs. St. Joseph went over 10 years without a public holiday display, and in 1981, the East Hills Optimist Club approached the parks director at the time and pitched the idea of decorating Krug Park for the holidays.
“That’s how Holiday Park came into existence,” he said. “So without Candy Cane Lane, we most likely would have never had a Holiday Park.”
The recreation at Holiday Park had been in the works for a year, but it was not part of the opening night at Holiday Park last Friday, Nov. 29, because they needed to wait for additional supplies.
“We’re taking this opportunity to put in a Candy Cane Lane display that honors Candy Cane Lane,” Atkins said. “But at the same time, we can pay tribute to those families that worked countless hours and spent countless dollars just to share Christmas spirit with the community around them.”
Atkins said he is excited to bring back fond memories of the original Candy Cane Lane to the community.
He also encouraged families who lived on the original Candy Cane Lane to reach out to the St. Joseph Parks Department and share pictures of the original displays.
“Share the displays if you still have them, and we’ll try to possibly copy them and add them to this display as we move forward,” Atkins said.
