Lights, Lanterns and Trains Herald Christmas in Northwest Ohio

Ohio's 10 largest Christmas light displays use a total of 14 million lights, enough to cover 68,500 six-foot tall tannenbaums .

One of those top 10 displays is at the Toledo Zoo as part of its Lights Before Christmas. This display boasts 1 million lights on show throughout the zoo's complex. Features include more than 200 zoo animal images and an 85-foot Norway spruce lit up with 32,000 sparkling lights, which is more than the tree in New York's famed Rockefeller Center. The celebration, which usually runs just before Thanksgiving until New Years Eve, also includes carolers, visits with Santa Claus and ice carving demonstrations on certain days.

If you're looking for something a little simpler, the historic Sauder Village near Archbold offers its Lantern Tours, which showcases a turn-of-the century Christmas.

"During our annual Holiday Lantern Tours guests are invited to take time out from a busy season to share in the Christmas traditions of long ago," said Kim Krieger, media relations specialist at Sauder Village. "With a personalized tour, engaging stories from the past and the magical experience of visiting the village by candlelight, guests can truly experience the warmth and beauty of the Christmas season."

During the tour, costumed tour guides light the way with their lanterns, sharing stories of long ago with guests and taking them to the various exhibits highlighting Christmas traditions from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Guests are encouraged to ask questions of those volunteers re-enacting the traditions. Along the way, visitors will be invited to create a Christmas chain to decorate the 1910 schoolhouse, sing hymns at the church and view gifts appropriate to the late 1800s being sent via the railroad to friends and family.

The lantern tours are only held on specific days and open to small groups, so call ahead at 1-800-590-9755 or go to www.saudervillage.org to make reservations and pre-payments. Each tour lasts about 90 minutes and begins on the half hours starting at 4 p.m.

Archbold is also home to another impressive light display, this one put on by the Archbold Chamber of Commerce. Held in Ruihley Park, the Festival of Lights is a free exhibit seen from the comfort of your car. Displays include elves playing tennis and sliding, angels and, of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus. The display is on Williams Street off of State Route 66.

In Findlay, a quarter-scale train ride, "The North Pole Express," transports visitors through a holiday wonderland of sparkling lights and decorations at the Northwest Ohio Preservation Inc. museum on County Road 99 near the north end of Findlay and I-75 exit #161. This is the seventh year of The North Pole Express. Trips begin after Thanksgiving and are available Fridays, Saturday and Sundays through late December. The train coaches are open on the side, so guests are encouraged to dress warmly. The paid admission on the Express also provides admission to the railroad museum, which is also decorated for the holidays.

Sources:

The Ohio Tourism Bureau Division

www.saudervillage.org

www.nworrp.org

Archbold Chamber of Commerce
www.toledozoo.org