As the Christmas season approaches, Lockerly in Lights has officially begun. The Lockerly in Lights event is held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights Nov. 14 through Dec. 21, offering an opportunity for Milledgeville residents to support the arboretum while celebrating the holidays.
Lockerly Arboretum, founded in 1965 by E. J. Grassman, is a non-profit botanical garden that offers free access to fifty acres of nature trails, greenhouses, gardens and tours of the property’s National Register Antebellum home, Rose Hill. The arboretum emphasizes horticulture and nature education with the on-site Woods Museum, where they host annual field trips for various students across Georgia.
A dazzling annual light show, the Lockerly Arboretum transforms itself every Christmas to celebrate the season and bring students and families from around Milledgeville together.
“Lockerly in Lights is a big holiday lights show; it stretches through a one-mile loop of super cool lights, very festive,” said Kylie Totten, a junior education major and an event worker for Lockerly in Lights. “It’s really a fun event for the community to get into the holiday spirit.”
Thursday nights are drive-through only, offering a view of lights from the comfort of a car. Friday and Saturday nights, guests are invited to walk through the lights display and enjoy a variety of food, beverages and merchandise available for purchase.
Ellen Patton, a senior art major, event worker and education assistant at Lockerly Arboretum, noted that the event is an opportunity for the locals to see the arboretum in a different light.
“We have been prepping since August,” Patton said. “We have lights everywhere, and everything is decorated for Christmas. It’s really just a way for the community to get out, get involved, see the arboretum and celebrate Christmas,”
During walk-through nights, the Arboretum additionally offers a s’mores station, popcorn and souvenirs. The event also includes a special display to celebrate GCSU, known as Bobcat Lane, which is decorated with green and blue lights.
Even though the lights are impressive, according to Totten, it’s the community that really makes Lockerly in Lights special, as the event brings so many people together to celebrate the Christmas season.
The preparation process for the season takes months, with workers and volunteers from the Milledgeville community working hard to make the display truly spectacular.
“Lockerly in Lights ends, and then the process for the next Lockerly in Lights begins, just because of the amount of work that goes into it and the preparation, getting everyone to volunteer and work, it’s really a yearlong process,” Totten said.
The light show is one of the Arboretum’s largest fundraisers of the year, providing funds for the Arboretum to maintain and expand its public botanical garden as well as nature education opportunities.
“It’s a way to get money for the Arboretum, but it’s also a way to get people that don’t usually come out to the Arboretum to get out there,” Patton said. “We get people coming from different countries, surrounding counties, and really all over Georgia.”
The Arboretum offers several other events as a part of the Lockerly in Lights December season, including the Jingle Jog. The run takes place on Dec. 15 and encourages non-perishable donations to the Chard Wray Food Pantry. The Arboretum also hosts a date night on Dec. 18, providing food, wine and blankets to any attendees.
