With Thanksgiving behind us, I am seeing a lot of comments on social media about the Reynolds Farm Equipment Christmas light display that had been around since about 1991. Reynolds Drive near State Road 37 south 126th Street has been lit-up with Christmas joy for a long time, until this year.
The announcement was made back in July of this year that Reynolds was donating the light display to Conner Prairie. The lights are now part of the “Merry Prairie Holiday” celebration on the grounds of Conner Prairie.
I have noticed some critical comments about how Conner Prairie is charging for the light display. The local nonprofit organization does charge a fee of either $16 or $20 (for those above age 2 & dependent on whether you buy your ticket at the gate or in advance).
It is true there is an admission fee, but the Reynolds lights are just one part of the entire event. I would ask everyone to keep one important fact in mind.
The Christmas light display belonged to Reynolds and it was the family that decided to donate the lights to Conner Prairie. They wanted the tradition to remain in Fishers.
It should be noted that Reynolds offered the light display free for a number of years. I believe they have earned the right to decide where the lights go from here.
I have also seen some criticism of the city providing Conner Prairie with $100,000 of funding. You can have your own opinion about whether that city donation is a good or bad idea, but that $100,000 a year of funding goes back many years to when Fishers was a town.
Our elected officials, either in the previous town council or the current city council, have, to the best of my recollection, unanimously voted to provide this funding every year.
The Fishers City Council created a Nonprofit Committee a few years ago to determine which local nonprofit organizations will receive funding from the city. The panel’s recommendation passed the Finance Committee and received unanimous approval from council members at the meeting this month.
In addition to the $100,000 approved for Conner Prairie, the council included the following funding for local nonprofit groups as part of the 2020 city budget:
Hamilton County Youth Assistance Program – $65,250
Youth Mentoring Initiative – $64,707
Janus Development Services – $15,043
Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation – $10,000
So, everyone is entitled to your own opinion on the move by Reynolds to donate the Christmas light to Conner Prairie and whether the city should be financially supporting Conner Prairie. Just be aware of a few key facts.