Light entertainment

Lincoln City kicks off the holiday season with Deck the Dock

By Gretchen Ammerman

Oregon Coast TODAY

Even during the roughest parts of the pandemic, holiday lights created a bright spot, giving people the opportunity to celebrate the season, while still socially isolating, with self-designed driving tours.

And thanks to Lincoln City’s efforts, the community’s lights display continues to grow steadily each year.

Enjoy the official start of the shining season at the lighting of Taft Dock on Monday, Nov. 28. Have a cookie from My Petite Sweet and watch Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus flip the switch.

“Wrapping the Taft Dock with lights is an old tradition,” said Ed Dreistadt, director of Explore Lincoln City. “I've never been able to find out when it started, but most recently it was done by the Chamber of Commerce Yo Pros. The story I heard was that they put up an impressive display of lights, but after a couple of years our marine environment took its toll and the light strings simply quit working and the program stopped.”

While perusing visitor numbers, Dreistadt noticed an uptick in December, so thought it was worth investing in the holiday lights displays.

“Reviving lights on the Taft Dock seemed to be the logical first step,” he said. “In 2019, we hired a company to string lights on the dock. Shellie Stuart came up with the name Deck the Dock and an old tradition was brought back. However, in 2020, everything came to a halt because of COVID. In 2021, we decked the dock again but went about it in a different way.”

Tapping the talent in the city’s Parks and Recreation staff rather than hiring a contractor resulted in an impressive result.

Working with the same budget, they were able to double the lights on Taft Dock, add a 12-foot holiday tree photo op, wrap light poles along 51st Street with battery-powered lights, wrap the Taft entry arch with battery-powered lights and wrap all the City-owned utility poles along the highway with battery-powered lights.

“We also started a program to literally light up the whole town,” Dreistadt said. “Explore Lincoln City awarded 30 businesses along Highway 101 $500 each to purchase holiday lights. With Taft Dock as the anchor attraction, businesses along 51st street and then north along Highway 101 started to light up for the holidays. The concept is to create a critical mass of contiguous lights for as far as the budget will allow.”

Grants are still available for all businesses along Highway 101, with the only requirement that they show a receipt confirming the money was spent on display supplies.

“For 2022, we are putting up more lights on the dock, plus a 15-foot-tall illuminated archway at the entrance. The Taft arch has had power restored and will be wrapped in brighter lights. 51st Street is getting wreaths on all the poles.”

Dreistadt also said the city is investing in a major project to make even more fantastic displays next year.

“Park maintenance has dug trenches and installed electrical conduit along the drive in Regatta Park,” he said. “This is the first step in staging a drive-through holiday light experience in Regatta Park. This year the stage and dock will be wrapped in lights, but by next year, displays will start to line the loop. Regatta Park will see an ever-increasing number of lights installed every year as it becomes an unparalleled holiday light experience. We're also looking at the park plazas in Oceanlake for additional light displays.”

And, in case you are wondering about the environmental impact of all these lights, Dreistadt said they have that covered, too.

“We are working with Pacific Power to make sure we are using green energy to make all this happen,” he said. “I was actually surprised at the carbon offset number. I thought it would be a lot higher, but the new high-efficiency LED bulbs just don't use all that much power.”

The lighting of the dock begins at 5 pm on Monday, Nov. 28, next to Mo’s Restaurant on SW 51st Street.