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Lights Out: Holiday in the Park group dissolving

By Evan Bevins 4 min read

PARKERSBURG - The last two remaining members of Holiday in the Park said they are dissolving the organization due to disrespect from city officials.

In a letter sent to the mayor and members of Parkersburg City Council, committee members Jonelle Merritt and Nancy Wilcox cited comments from a March council budget hearing that appeared in the March 12 edition of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

"In my opinion, they’re really fizzling out," Councilman Mike Reynolds said during the meeting, in which he made a successful motion to allocate $10,000 toward the display. "I’d like to see them be a little more designed like the holiday display in Gallipolis."

Other members expressed a desire to improve the 31-year-old program through which volunteers, with the help of city parks workers, set up lighted displays illustrating scenes of the season and popular characters. One said they did not know the status of the committee.

"We got disrespect from the council members, information that was totally incorrect," Merritt said Friday. "Instead of making public comments, they should have talked to someone on the committee."

Asked about the letter and the decision to dissolve Holiday in the Park, Reynolds said Friday that the statements in March were meant to be constructive.

"Most people that comment about the light display would like to see a destination display that would bring people to our city from all over, similar to the lights in" Gallipolis, he said. "It would take a few years to build a Christmas display like that, and the Holiday ... in the Park committee wanted status quo without changes and very little additions."

In the letter, Merritt and Wilcox said the committee had not "fizzled" and met regularly each month, except for May to July. But volunteer numbers have dwindled and, after the council members' comments appeared in the paper, two active committee members resigned, they said Friday.

Merritt and Wilcox noted Councilman Dave McCrady was assigned to the committee but said he had not been to any of their meetings.

McCrady declined to comment Friday.

Merritt has worked with the program since 1999. Wilcox was assigned to the committee as a member of City Council in 2008 and has remained part of the group.

Merritt said it was not an easy decision to dissolve the nonprofit and she and Wilcox made efforts to avoid it.

"It took us this long to finally make a decision," Merritt said.

In the letter, they said committee members constantly work on the displays, although the Staunton Avenue building where they are stored does not have heat or air conditioning, so some members did the work in their garage.

They described 2025 as a challenging year for Holiday in the Park, as construction on the soon-to-open new pavilion in City Park caused existing electrical infrastructure to be pulled from poles so new equipment could be installed. The temporary stations set up could not handle the load from the lights and breakers were constantly tripping and needing reset, they said.

Merritt said she sent letters to the businesses or groups that have displays, about 14 of them, stored at the Staunton Avenue facility to let them know they could be picked up. The remaining 54 are sponsored and maintained by Holiday in the Park, which is a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

"People don't understand Holiday in the Park is not part of the City of Parkersburg," Wilcox said. "They are an entity of their own."

For now, those displays will remain in the organization's building. Wilcox said if a group came along with the volunteer support to bring the effort back, she would continue to support it.

"They've got to have enough people to repair lights and put them up," she said.

Merritt noted that Holiday in the Park's bylaws spell out what happens if the organization is dissolved. Once any debts and obligations are provided for, the remaining assets "will be distributed to a nonprofit fund, foundation or corporation which is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes" and has an established tax-exempt status.

Merritt and Wilcox closed the letter by thanking community members, businesses and groups that supported and enjoyed the efforts, as well as residents of Recovery Point who helped with recent setup, past committee members and city employees.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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