HISTORY

The annual Cedar Lakes Winterfest light display began in 2004 to generate interest in Cedar Lakes during the holiday season, to serve as an economic development opportunity for the region, and to foster an increased sense of community. Winterfest has continued to grow thanks to local businesses, civic groups, and individuals who have contributed displays, grants, and cash donations.  The Cedar Lakes’ staff take care of inspecting over 800,000 lights and putting up the displays which covers over 100 acres.  Each year over 30,000 people take in the spectacular event which is open nightly from Thanksgiving week until the first of the year.

The 3rd annual Winterfest saw the creation of Cedar Lakes Winterfest Light Competition.  Career and technical centers from across the state submit a written description of the display to be constructed along with detailed drawings and an itemized budget.  The winners receive money from a grant fund to pay for materials needed to build the winning designs.  The sate wide competition is for students enrolled in Career and Technical Education programs and displays are judged on the quality of construction, creativity, animation, theme, and documentation.

2011

In 2011, Roane-Jackson Technical Center students built an 8 foot tall, 4 feet wide poinsettia set in a flower pot bearing the Mountain State Arts and Crafts Fair logo. This tradition has been a staple in the local community for nearly 50 years and is held over the Fourth of July weekend. The metal frame and supports were built by the Welding program and painted by the Auto Refinishing students. Drafting students who created the original design used over 100 feet of rope lights to outline the poinsettia and over 1,000 individual mini-lights spell out the logo. All of the soldering, electrical connections, and splicing was performed by the Electronic students.

2010

In 2010, Roane-Jackson Technical Center introduced 101.1 FM to broadcast information about Winterfest across Cedar Lakes.  The 25 milliwatt FM radio transmitter was assembled by an Electronics student and a personal computer designed and built by the Computer Networking class acts as the recording and playback center.  An antenna was constructed to transmit the radio signal across Cedar Lakes.  The radio’s programming was recorded by the Center’s students.  A special thanks to WVRC 104.7 FM Chief Engineer, Larry Koeing for his design assistance and technical support.

2009

The solar powered Christmas tree was built by Roane-Jackson Technical Center's students.  The massive tree is the tallest display at Winterfest.  The display stands 20 feet tall and measures 10 feet across the bottom.  The environmentally friendly tree contains 7560 mini LED bulbs and requires no electricity as it is powered by 2 solar panels which provide the display with enough energy to operate nightly."  The solar powered Christmas tree was awarded 1st place at the 2009 Winterfest Light Competition.

2008