Lights of Spiegel Grove
Category: Events
Date & Time: Thursday, November 30, 2023. 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Event Description
Get into the holiday spirit by seeing Spiegel Grove light up for Christmas with more festive lights added to the grounds this year during Lights of Spiegel Grove on Thursday, Nov. 30.
This event is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Spiegel Grove, the grounds of the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. Admission is free.
Sip warming hot chocolate and snack on popcorn by the campfire. See the “Hayes Train Special” model train display in the museum, and visit with Kris Kringle, the name that President Rutherford B. Hayes used for Santa.
The large Christmas tree in the museum rotunda, as well as the rest of the lights around the Grove, will be turned on at 6:15 p.m. Participants will be able to see the museum tree lighting from the outside of the museum on the side of the building with the columns where the original entrance to the museum is located.
Carolers will sing beloved holiday songs throughout the event.
Horse-drawn trolley rides, which will include a story reading with Mrs. Claus, will be available for $6 per person ages 3 and older and free for kids 2 and younger. Tickets will be sold the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis. Rides are by South Creek Clydesdales.
The train rides are sponsored by GEM Service Rudolph Libbe Group.
Christmas - themed tours of the first floor of the Hayes Home also will be offered during this event. They will last a half hour. The first tour is at 5:30 p.m., and the last tour is at 7:30 p.m.
Non-member tickets are $10 for adults 19 and older, $8 for ages 6-18 and free for ages 5 and younger. Tickets for Hayes Presidential members are $8 for adults 19 and older, $6 for ages 6-18 and free for ages 5 and younger.
Tickets available below. Members will need to log in to receive their discount.
An online gingerbread contest will also take place in conjunction with the event. Participants can vote for the winners on their mobile device or computer. To enter or to vote, visit https://www.rbhayes.org/news/2023/10/30/general/enter-hayes-presidential-s-gingerbread-house-contest-for-a-chance-to-win-gift-card-prizes/.
Pottery Perfection of Fremont also will offer hydro dipping of Christmas ornaments. The cost is $9 per ornament and can be paid at the museum front desk the night of the event.
Lights of Spiegel Grove is part of Hayes Presidential’s holiday series of events, called A Presidential Christmas. The title sponsor for A Presidential Christmas is Mosser Construction. Additional funding by Wright Leather Works LLC. 
Hayes Presidential is America’s first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Hayes Presidential is located at Spiegel Grove at the corner of Hayes and Buckland avenues.
For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org. Like Hayes Presidential on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram at @rbhayespres.