Saturday, December 16, 2023 | Country Acres • Page 1
Country Acres Saturday, December 16, 2023
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Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 10, Edition 18
Walking
wonderland
PHOTO BY EMILY BRETH
The Dancer family lights a trail for others to enjoy came to enjoy the scenery. However, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the couple ROYALTON — While decided to expand and get the he was growing up, Andrew word out through their FaceDancer and his family always book page, Dancer Winter had lights up for Christmas, Wonderland. even if only a few. Now, he “From there, it just got and his wife Kayla string up bigger and bigger,” Kayla 160,000 lights for visitors to said. enjoy. Today, the family es“In 2017 we moved (to timates they receive a few a rural area), thousand visitors each year. and we The Dancers added a started the scavenger hunt to their light followshow to create more family ing year fun. There are multiple items putting hidden throughout the trail up more for everyone to find. Another lights,” addition to the light show Kayla said. is found after a short walk The first along the trail where there is two years the now a remake of Whoville Dancers had with the favorite classic lights lining their characters. trail, it was mainly “Andrew and his friend family and friends who projected the images onto BY EMILY BRETH STAFF WRITER
plywood and cut them out,” Kayla said. “I started to paint them one of the weekends over hunting (season). I had a lot of helpers.” After two weeks of cutting and painting, Whoville was complete in time for Dancer Winter Wonderland’s opening the day after Thanksgiving. The display remains up until the end of December. “My husband starts to fix the lights in October and starts setting up around deer hunting,” Kayla said. “Weekends are full days of setting up, and most evenings after work are too.” The day they open the light show to the public, Andrew 4
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COUNTRY: Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on January 20, 2024
double checks all the lights and ensures all the plugins are clear and safe. Although more than 100,000 lights need to be checked, the couple said it’s well worth it. “My favorite part is sitting and talking to people by the fire (after they walk through the trail),” Andrew said. “The community and talking to the visitors are what pushes us to keep going.” Kayla agreed. “We get to see a lot of people we don’t get to see very often,” Kayla said. “We appreciate everyone coming and all the positivity we hear from it.” The Dancers also give credit to others for helping them grow their light and display 9
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(Back) A wooden Nativity scene stands ready for the Christmas season Nov. 29 at Dancer Winter Wonderland near Royalton. The manger scene was donated to the Dancer family for the display. (Above)Andrew (from left), Landon, Adeline, Lillian and Kayla Dancer gather at the end of the trail Nov. 29 at Dancer Winter Wonderland near Royalton. The Dancer family has a bonfire each night their display is open so that guests can warm up and talk with each other.
collection. There are many people who have donated old lights or Christmas decorations they didn’t want any more or thought were broken. Andrew takes the time to clean
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