Now, how did they get up there?
If you’ve been to the Holiday light show here at Rotary Botanical Gardens in the past you’ve probably seen the strings of dazzling lights from the top of the tallest trees in the garden.
I’m sure you’ve wondered how they get up there. I know I sure have. I’ve been to the light show before, I’ve seen these lights up in the trees and streaming down like waterfalls. And everyone I’ve asked is always saying, “How’d they get up there?” Well boy do I have news for you!
Archery.
We have a volunteer named John. John uses a bow and arrow with blunted tip, and shoots fishing line attached to a weight up into the trees. Then the other volunteers string the lights up and that’s where they lay. The bow he uses is small without much weight behind it, (think of a children’s bow!) so there isn’t much force behind the blunted arrows being shot into the trees. Good thing too, we wouldn’t want anyone to be unsafe!
Photo credit: Marsha Mood Photography
Using a bow and arrow is such a creative and fascinating approach to a problem one wouldn’t even realize exists unless you work at a Botanical Garden with a Holiday light show. It also makes for such a good conversation of how things operate at the Gardens.
Now, as for how they get them back down, the lights are attached to a bungee cord that our volunteers then use to pull the lights back down with after the show is over. The whole process of taking down the holiday lights takes about 3 months. If you’d like to see how this process works, or even learn how to do it yourself, consider volunteering with us at Rotary Botanical Gardens.
Volunteering with us helps our operations continue running smoothly so that we can keep delivering you the Holiday light show and a beautiful garden year after year! We offer a ton of benefits to our volunteers including appreciation events, and the chance to be a part of a dynamic team of wonderful people. Plus, real life experience and a chance to do things you may have never been able to do before!
Don’t forget to get your tickets for Rotary Botanical Garden’s Holiday Light Show 2024! You have to come see the lights for yourself. Now that we know how they go up, it’s obvious that no year will ever have them in the same spot adding to the newness of each year! So, keep coming back to see where they show up year after year!
The Holiday Light show at Rotary Botanical Gardens features over 1.6 million lights, a beautiful nighttime winter walk, and lasting memories for everyone involved. So don’t miss out!
I can’t wait to see what we learn next!
If you’d like to volunteer with us, click this link to sign up!
Volunteer | Rotary Botanical Gardens
Don’t forget to buy your tickets for Rotary Botanical Gardens Holiday Light Show 2024!
2024 Rotary Botanical Gardens Holiday Light Show | Janesville, Wisconsin