Simmons family keeps lighting tradition alive

For 30 years, Betty Simmons and her late husband, Gerald, and their son, Raymond, have shared their amazing creations at Guthrie Center’s Mitchell Park.

By Rich Wicks | Guthrie Center Times, December 2025

A famous quotation, attributed to anthropologist Margaret Mead, states, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” 

That concept holds true at Guthrie Center’s Mitchell Park each holiday season. Pam Kunkle explained that for the past 32 years, a small group of volunteers has worked tirelessly to make the annual holiday light display happen. The Simmons family has played a crucial role in those efforts.

“For 30 years, Betty Simmons and her late husband, Gerald, and their son, Raymond, have shared their amazing creations at our park,” Kunkle said. “They have created hundreds of wooden characters for the displays, but they have gone over the top by building a working merry-go-round, a motorized Ferris wheel and, this year, a blow-up snow globe.”

Each year, the park holds upwards of 100 displays from local businesses, civic groups and families. The Simmons family has one of the largest displays in the park, and new items are added each year. The family’s display at the park includes characters that are designed on wooden planks, which Ray cuts to size. Betty then paints on each character.

For many years, Betty and her husband, Gerald, worked together on the project, but he passed away in 2010, and Betty worried that the park lighting project might end.

“But, I got a big surprise. Raymond stepped in,” Betty said. “Raymond has done a super job of stepping in and taking his dad’s place. He cuts out what I want, and he expresses his opinions, just like Gerald did. He’s particular.”

Betty and Ray work on their holiday displays all year long, designing, cutting and painting the wooden characters while also repairing items and figuring out how to make displays weatherproof. The holiday displays at Mitchell Park stay up until around New Year’s Day, depending on the weather.

“If we have a decent day, we’ll come in and take it down,” Betty said.

Besides the family’s large display near the swimming pool parking lot, Betty and Ray also have one of the first displays that visitors see when entering Mitchell Park. A large train display with various cutout characters sits just to the left as visitors arrive.

“This year, we added some more stuff to the train up there, too,” Betty said. 

Betty and Ray welcome anyone with time and/or talent to spare to help keep Guthrie Center’s lighting tradition going. 

“We work as a team with Mary Jo Laughery and Pam Kunkle, and my family. It just takes teamwork,” Betty said.

Although Betty has been involved for decades, she plans to continue for the foreseeable future because of the joy it brings to her family and the community.

“I just had my 85^th birthday, and I just take it a year at a time anymore. I enjoy doing it and knowing that I’m doing something that is pleasing other people in our town,” Betty said. “When I’m painting, I may not stay within the lines anymore, but who’s going to go up there and check? It’s something I can do in my house, and I enjoy it.”