"When we plugged the lights in, flames shot out two feet from the end of the light rope wire. We decided that might be a good time to change the lights out." Del Brandt of the Kiwanis Club of Clermont was remembering a test run of rope lights on the schoolhouse display at Center Lake, in a 2024 feature by the South Lake Tablet. Brandt was laughing about it. A handful of club members designed, built, wired and repaired the displays around the lake, and they have been doing it for about three decades.
That changes how to read Clermont's holiday season. The City of Clermont puts on the big public moments: the tree lighting, the parade and the Enchanted Forest of Trees. The ring of lights on Center Lake, the first thing you see on the way into downtown, comes out of a volunteer workshop. It exists because an earlier volunteer tradition got too big to keep going.
A Boat Parade That Outgrew Its Volunteers
The South Lake Tablet traced the story to the early 1990s and to Page, Arizona. Kiwanian Richard Bell and his wife, Toni, were visiting their daughter there, and she showed them a video of the Christmas boat parade on Lake Powell. Bell brought a copy home to the club. With help from members including Jack Matthews, the Kiwanis Club of Clermont organized its own boat parade with local boat owners, and Santa came along.
The parade ran on Lake Minneola and finished at Jaycee Beach, which is now Waterfront Park. Back then, the fitness trail along the lake was still part of Lake Minneola Drive, between East Avenue and Eighth Street, so people watched from their cars on the shoulder of the road.
Over time the parade became too cumbersome for the volunteers, and the club ended it. The members wanted a new community service project, so they asked the city whether they could put up displays at Center Lake. Club member Oakley Seaver pushed for the idea, the city said yes, and committee chair Ed Griffin got it started.
The beginnings were small. The city had the club pay for its own power outlet boxes, which went in near the Clermont Garden Club on West Avenue, behind the telephone company building on Desoto Street, and along the south shore. The first season had three or four displays. As the club kept at it, the city added more outlets so the displays could grow. Gene Thomas told the Tablet, "I think that the city realized that we were serious about this project and really stepped up to help us out along the way."
A Garage, Then a City Barn on Carroll Street
The look of the lake today traces back to 1997. That year club member Tom Thomas, who had a knack for design, started building displays with Gene Thomas, Jim Mackey and Dick Baxter. Many of those pieces are still in use. One of the first was the western-style horse and coach, which stood on the Eighth Street side of the lake in 2024.
"The initial workplace was in Tom's garage at his home," Gene Thomas told the South Lake Tablet. "Later we moved the project to the old city barn facility located behind the Clermont Builders Supply on Carroll Street." The ROW House building now stands on that spot.
Del Brandt took over supervision later, and his background in electrical engineering brought motion to the lake. In 2024 the Tablet counted 25 displays made up of 65 separate pieces, all repaired and maintained before going into storage for the summer. These are the pieces worth stopping for:
- The rowboat. Its oars actually row.
- The snowball thrower. It throws snowballs made of twinkling lights.
- The rocking horse. Tom Thomas first designed it as a stationary horse. Gene Thomas, a wood artist, built a large wooden frame for it, and Brandt motorized it with small motors and springs so it moves like a merry-go-round pony.
- The locomotive. Joyce Brandt suggested changing the smoke from a solid light pattern to one that looks like it's moving.
- The schoolhouse. It is modeled on the old schoolhouse at the Clermont Historic Village on West Avenue, which is a replica of Clermont's first schoolhouse, once a hunting cabin owned by the Hooks family in the late 1800s. Joyce Brandt pushed for this display to draw attention to the village.
- The Ann Dupee display. The Kiwanis Club of South Lake sponsors this one in honor of the past club member, who was the first woman inducted into the Kiwanis International Hall of Fame.
The project started as a Santa Claus and a four-piece train. It is now a full shoreline of displays between Eighth Street and West Avenue.
The Week the Lake Goes Up
The lights are on for only a few weeks, but the club works on them almost all year. Sponsor requests start in late September. Repairs happen before the pieces go into storage. Del Brandt, Dieter Grube and Greg Amann have been replacing the old incandescent bulbs with brighter M-5 LEDs.
The displays go up during Thanksgiving week, so a walk past the lake that week may catch the work in progress. The 2024 feature described Frank Beals, a Clermont native and graduate of the former Clermont High School, who lives in North Carolina. He comes back every Thanksgiving week to spend the holiday with family, then stays through the week to help set up the displays. His late father, Charles Beals, was once mayor of Clermont. Students from area high school Kiwanis Key Clubs help each year too.
In 2024 the lights were on every night from December 6 into early January. This year the Kiwanis Club of Clermont has set its Light Up Center Lake celebration for Friday, December 4, 2026. Sponsor signs will stand along the lakefront through December.
December 4: The City and the Club Light Up the Same Night
On the same Friday, the city holds its annual tree lighting. According to the South Lake Tablet's announcement, the theme is "Christmas Rewind," inspired by the '80s. It runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at City Hall Park and through downtown Clermont, with live music, food trucks, local vendors and carolers, and the city is inviting people to come in '80s holiday outfits. The 2024 Tablet feature noted that the city hosts Light Up Clermont, and the Kiwanis Club of Clermont supplies part of the downtown decorations.
Kiwanis volunteers are also part of the city's event. Photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at the Clermont Historic Village, courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of South Lake. That's the same village whose schoolhouse is copied on the lakeshore. On the evening of December 4, you can see the real schoolhouse at the village and its lighted copy at Center Lake on the same walk.
The Downtown Calendar Around the Lake
The lake sits in the middle of a holiday calendar spread across three weekends, from November 21 to December 19. These dates come from the City of Clermont's 2026 events calendar and recent South Lake Tablet listings.
| Date | Event | Where | Organizer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Hometown Holidays | Downtown Clermont | Clermont Main Street |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Enchanted Forest of Trees, opening day | Downtown Clermont | City of Clermont Parks and Recreation |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Light Up Clermont, "Christmas Rewind" | City Hall Park and downtown | City of Clermont Parks and Recreation |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Light Up Center Lake celebration | Center Lake | Kiwanis Club of Clermont |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Christmas Parade | Downtown Clermont | City of Clermont Parks and Recreation |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Chanukah celebration, 7 p.m. | The Clermont Room, Clermont Arts & Recreation Center | Congregation Sinai |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Chanukah Festival | Waterfront Park | Chabad of South Lake County |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Ugly Sweater Run: Santa vs Grinch | Victory Pointe | Beastmode Running |
| Fri., Dec. 18 | Clermont Main Street Wine Stroll | Downtown Clermont | Clermont Main Street |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Santa's Twilight 5k | Downtown Clermont | Sommer Sports |
The South Lake Tablet reports that the Enchanted Forest of Trees returns with more than 100 holiday displays. Congregation Sinai's Chanukah celebration costs $18, children under 12 get in free, and Joe Goldovitz & Friends Band will play.
The busiest stretch is December 4 through 6. On Friday you can see the tree lighting at City Hall Park and walk down to Center Lake. On Saturday morning you can catch the parade downtown. Two Chanukah events follow that Saturday night and Sunday.
Where the Sponsor Money Goes
Each display on the lake can carry a sponsor's name. In 2026 the Kiwanis Club of Clermont is charging $200 for a sign shown along the lakefront through December. Some sponsors use their display to remember a loved one.
The project began as plain community service. Later, business sponsors turned it into a fundraiser for the club's yearly Christmas party for local schoolchildren. The party ended after 2020, when COVID-19 canceled it and changes to student travel policies made it hard to bring back. The lights now raise money for nonprofits and youth activities across South Lake. The 2026 sponsorship notice lists what the club funds. That includes scholarships, Terrific Kids, Head Start Reading, Bringing Up Grades, and youth leadership programs including Key Clubs, Builders Clubs, K-Kids and Aktion Club. Members also place flags at veterans' graves on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. To sponsor a display, contact the Kiwanis Club of Clermont.
I love telling stories like this, about the people who make Clermont feel like home, and I'd be glad to share more next time you're downtown. If this season has you thinking about your own home on the lakes or near downtown, Yvonne Faraci is here to help. Schedule your free consultation and home valuation whenever you're ready.
