Newton Citizen

COVINGTON -- Chimney Park will be transformed into a winter wonderland on Dec. 6, and everyone is invited to experience the magic.

The second annual Twilights at Chimney Park will take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the proposed park site behind Newton County Library, located at 7116 Floyd St. N.E.

The event will feature caroling and storytelling; popcorn, hot chocolate and s'mores around a fire pit; trees hung with natural ornaments made by schoolchildren; and unique lighting elements that will sparkle in the woods, among them a bicycle display that will have spinning lights to create the illusion of movement, a lighted Slinky and a lighted tunnel for kids to crawl through.

In addition, there will be entertainment provided by school choruses and a puppet show courtesy of the Covington Pilot Club. Children's librarian Carol Durusau will be reading stories at an amphitheater improvised out of stumps and hay bales.

Last year, tickets were sold for the event, but this year it will be free, although donations are encouraged. Proceeds will benefit Chimney Park, a proposed community park that will be built around the granite ruins and chimney of an old mansion situated behind the library.

"If you give a donation to something, you become a supporter of it, a friend of it. We hope that mindset will develop a new donor base for us," said Barbara Morgan, vice chair of Friends of Newton Parks, the 501(c)3 organization that is raising money to develop the park. The next step toward that end will be stabilizing the chimney and foundation of the old mansion, Morgan said.