The Country Christmas display at the corner of 4th and 4th in the historic downtown Devils Lake.
It’s called “A Country Christmas” and you used to have to drive north to the Starkweather area to see the vintage display that the Mike Connor family had accumulated over the years.
Now, all you have to do is drive to the corner of 4th Street and 4th Avenue in historic downtown Devils Lake to see most of it.
For over 25 years the Connor farm drew drivers the 26 miles north to the farmstead. By 2013 they had over 800 vehicles pass through their yard to see the display.
In 2014 Mike and Ellen donated a majority of their massive collection of outdoor decorations to the Lake Region Heritage Center and they have displayed many of those items in the Old Post Office Museum each year.
Soon the LRHC will be opening the Lake Region Art Center in the former Glickson’s Men’s Store and to kick off the new location they have set up all the decorations they could from the Connor display in the display windows.
New to downtown Devils Lake: the Lake Region Arts Center
New to downtown Devils Lake is the Lake Region Arts Center. An expansion of the Lake Region Heritage Center was made possible by the City of Devils Lake and Metro Plains. The Lake Region Arts Center (LRAC) will be a community space to display and sell local and regional, original art. Lisa Crosby, Director of the Lake Region Heritage Center will also oversee LRAC.
Amber Fletschock, Artist, as Curator and Exhibition Designer is working on a soft opening for January 2, 2024, with limited hours. She is originally from Devils Lake and is a working artist living in Fargo. She will be working remotely in the winter months and teaching in the summer months.
The gallery will be completely volunteer operated, hours of operation will build with volunteer base. Closer to the summer months we are hoping to offer art classes for adults as well as children weekly.
Summer programming for school age children and workshops for teens and adults are our first priorities for the first year. June 15, 2024, will be the Grand Opening, coinciding with the 4th Annual Artfest. The space will include a retail space for local authors, foodies, and other fun gift ideas – all regionally made.
We are still working on the logo, and hours, and furniture and almost everything but excitement is really growing!
“I am hoping to be open 3 days a week 4 hours a day in the winter months in the beginning,” said Lisa Crosby, Director Lake Region Heritage Center. lrhc@gondtc.com
