City Of Woodland Lights Up For Christmas

WOODLAND, Miss. (WCBI)- If you’re looking to get in the Christmas spirit, the light display in Woodland, Mississippi might spark your interest.

The Chickasaw County town’s motto is the “little town that can.” With the help of a few volunteers, millions of Christmas lights make the area a little more merry and bright.

It looks a little bit like Santa’s workshop and they call themselves Santa’s little helpers.

“We normally have it a little more organized then this,” said Volunteer Jo Bullard.

As a part of an eight year tradition, the town of Woodland lights up the city. The colorful Christmas display is one of the things the town’s known for.

“It’s amazing when I go to things and say I’m Patti Pettit, they say oh you’re the lady with the furniture store or the Christmas lights, and I say yeah that’s me,” said City Mayor Patti Pettit.

Mayor Patti Pettit says people from all over drive through, but the lights don’t go up themselves. Roughly half a dozen volunteers started working in November.

“I just love fixing the town up to make it look good for Christmas. For the big kids, little kids, young kids old kids,” said volunteer Chesteen Russell.

The Chickasaw County Sheriff’s office also helps, allowing inmates to help set up the giant displays. Something Mayor Pettit says goes a long way.

“They get to give back to the community. They get to see it’s a positive reinforcement all the way around,” said Mayor Pettit.

The work doesn’t stop there. When lights go out, you’ll find Santa’s helpers in the workshop re-stringing lights and making it all merry and bright.

“It’s tedious and you have to have a lot of patience to do it, but it’s worth it in the long run,” Russell.

“If something goes out like this, we bring it back in and redo it,” said Bullard.

Volunteers work on the town’s decorations more than their own.

“She said when are you going to decorate your house for Christmas, and I said I’m not done decorating the town yet,” said Russell.

It’s a small town full of Christmas Spirit that they want to share with you, and make you feel right at home for the Holiday.

“You want your home to look good at Christmas time, and this is home,” Russell.

The best part of this Christmas adventure is it’s free and open to the public through December 27th.