During the Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce’s 122nd annual dinner in January at Baqara Coliseum in Newton, Jamie Murphy received the Key Award from the Chamber.
As the Assistant Superintendent of Park Operations, Murphy was recognized for kickstarting the Maytag Park Holiday Light Display. Murphy spent countless hours acquiring displays and lights for the drive-thru attraction beloved by many folks in town.
In an interview with the Newton Daily News, Jamie said the following: “My favorite part of working on this project is coming up with new ideas for new displays to do in the future. [...] I get way more ideas than I know what to do with,” Murphy said. “This year I tried to incorporate some iconic Newton attractions into the displays. We will have an Iowa Speedway display and a drive-in display just to name a couple.”
The project grew from 2018 to 2019, with an anonymous donor donating $10,000 to the Friends of Newton parks to pay for electrical work at the park. The increased voltage meant the addition of more animated lights in areas of the park that previously had no electrical outlets. The light display, which was set up from December 1 - January 1 drew thousands to Maytag Park.
Photo credit: John Lee/Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce
