By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Marion County Lake is holding its 10th annual Christmas light drive-thru 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 9.

Santa will be on hand with candy canes for visitors, while elves direct traffic though the acres of lights and holiday displays.

One of the highlights is the tunnel of lights, where residents string up lights along Hill Rd, lake resident Kathi Beeton said.

“If you’re just going to drive around the lake, you miss a lot of what’s behind,” she said. “That’s why we do the tunnel. To bring everybody back through where we all live.”

The Schwartz and Kampfe families were the first to put displays out consistently for the Christmas season.

“They just loved it,” Beeton said. “The Kampfes are the ones who have the three acres behind, and they put out more decorations than anyone I’ve seen in my life.”

More than 700 cars make the tour every year. The event is free and open to all.

The event used to include hot cocoa and popcorn, but it became so popular they couldn’t sustain it, Beeton said. The last year popcorn was served, 800 bags were given out.