On Saturday evening (Dec. 18) the Los Angeles County parks employees and volunteers at William S. Hart Park hosted a very special “Barnyard Lights Tour” at Hart Park in Newhall. For several weeks the volunteers and staff members have been planning, designing and decorating the first event of this type to take place at the newly updated barnyard at Bill Hart’s Horseshoe Ranch.
For the past two years park events have been canceled due to COVID-19; so, the Barnyard Tour was not only in celebration of Christmas but also to let the public know that the very popular ranch barnyard is once again open for public visitations on a Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. schedule. The staff and volunteers at the park went all out in decorating the barnyard with Christmas lights and decorations and setting up special areas for photographs with Christmas trees, holiday cutouts, and on Saturday even provided a real live Santa Claus!
Hundreds of visitors came from near and far for this exciting evening to visit the animals, view the remodeled duck pond, enjoy the exhibits set up by the Natural History Museum, and shop in the Friends of Hart Park Gift Store.
It was wonderful to see the smiles on so many faces and the laughter of visitors enjoying getting out and interacting with their families, seeing old friends, and meeting new acquaintances. Bill Hart would have been most pleased to see the enjoyment that the public was having at his old ranch, and how happiness was being spread by the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department.
Becki Basham, Friends of Hart Park Gift Store Manager
Roger Basham, Friends of Hart Park Book Store
Santa Clarita
