MILWAUKEE — Everywhere around, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but it surely doesn’t feel like it. With temperatures around 50 degrees Friday evening, families took the opportunity to get out and hit the trails at Hawthorn Glen, hosting its fifth annual Winter Wonder Woods event.
“It’s really cool!” Aidan said.
Mother Nature wasn’t going to let it snow Friday night, but at Hawthorn Glen, they let it glow with a 100,000-light display over 25-acre park near 60th and State Street in Milwaukee.
“100,000 lights,” Nicole Sponholtz, Citywide Manager for Milwaukee Recreation said. “It took us probably about a good month to get everything organized and a lot of staff and a lot of hard work.”
It’s the fifth year Milwaukee Recreation is running this event. It costs $4 per person with children under the age of 2 admitted free. The event will run from this weekend and next from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 9, Dec. 15, and Dec. 16. Milwaukee Recreation suggests signing up before arriving.
In addition to the spectacle of lights, Milwaukee Recreation includes a scavenger hunt with a prize at the end and several fun facts throughout the trail.
It’s sure to create lasting memories for the little ones in your family, including a possible sighting of the big man.
“Taking a picture with Santa!” was Lincoln’s favorite part.
The warm weather caught Sckilay’re Eberhardy off guard.
“I put on my snow pants and jacket and I was like, it’s way too hot!” Eberhardy said.
With her little guys in tow, sipping on hot chocolate and hot cider, they were having a great night in the warmer evening. A 50-degree night was a pleasure to many families Friday Night, including Sidney Wilson. He is spending his first winter away from his home in Louisiana.
“It’s a pleasant night,” he said. “It’s nice and cozy. We’re out enjoying this together so we can enjoy the spirit of God and enjoy one another.”
“I’m so used to it being freezing around this time,” Miracal Leonard said. “It’s definitely different.”
Their daughter, Dmiyah, had a smile brighter than the thousands of lights around her. In her tiny little North Face jacket, she is ready for normal winter weather.
And her favorite part of the trail walk could benefit from that as well.
“The snowman!” Dmiyah said.
For more information on Milwaukee Recreation’s Winter Wonder Woods event at Hawthorn Glen, you can visit their website here.
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