Light Up BGKY kicks off holiday season in Bowling Green at Railpark and Train Museum
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Historic Railpark and Train Museum is the first location of a yearly tradition that kicks off the holiday season, but they’re also celebrating a huge milestone.
“We’re really excited tonight to host our third annual lighting of the Depot. We created this event to mark the restoration of the building some 30 years ago, and so tonight was a little extra special because we’re also celebrating our 100th anniversary,” executive director Jamie Johnson says.
While it was warm inside the Depot, the holiday season kicked off on a cold December night, as the Railpark celebrates this huge milestone.
“When you can trace your roots back 150 years ago, there’s a lot of things that you can celebrate. So we’re really excited about the rail line having come through this town 150 years ago, but also for this building to be built 100 years ago. The fact that it’s still standing today and still in service to the community, it’s just a really big deal. You just don’t find that in every community, and we have a building that’s beautiful and people love this place, and it makes us feel good about what we get the pleasure of doing every day, keeping the doors open,” Johnson says.
On top of the festivities, they’re also holding a donor reception to thank those that support them year round.
“That’s how we pay the light bills, and so it’s really great to have those people here and to just have a night of festivities with them. We also have the Festival of Trains going on that’s hosted by the Show Modular Model Railroad Club. They’ve been here as long as Friends of L&N Depot… and then also part of tonight we have free cookies, hot chocolate and desserts for anyone in the community that wanted to come out and share this special night for us,” Johnson says.
Above all, they’re honored to kick off the holidays in Bowling Green and celebrate the century mark.
“We were really honored this year to be the kickoff location for Light Up BGKY. We think that’s a great event for the community, and it started the same year that we lit up the depot. That’s when Light Up BGKY started… and so we’re excited to be a part of that. We were a part of it every year, but it was just a little extra special to host the kickoff night along with our 100th anniversary,” Johnson says.
