Kingfisher Winter Nights ended another successful holiday season, board member Tim Abercrombie told the Kingfisher Lions Club at their Thursday meeting.

Abercrombie, who also is a Lions Club member, said he was one of eight board members who organized the annual lights display at Kingfisher Park.

About 5,000 vehicles drove through the displays between Thanksgiving and Christmas, with 1,000s of additional walkers taking advantage of the unusually mild weather to get a closer view.

“We draw visitors from all over northwest Oklahoma,” he said. “Other displays may be bigger, but the train and the swinging bridge are kind of unique and add some nostalgia that people want to see.”

Actual work to put the event together starts Oct. 1, when the lights first begin to go up, and extends through the end of January, when all the displays will be taken down and stored until next year.

“We store most of them, but there are a few displays still owned by families and businesses who take care of them and store them themselves,” Abercrombie said.

He estimated that more than 3 million individual lights make up the displays and said light strands need to be replaced about every five years.

In addition to the board, the event relies on volunteers from the schools, Kingfisher Parks Department and Cimarron Electric Cooperative, Chisholm Trail Technology Center and others.

In response to a question, Abercrombie said he probably spends 150 hours on the project between October and February.

“The money we collect over our expenses is invested back in new displays,” he said.