Editor’s Note: The final night of ERDC Under the Lights has been postponed to Sunday, Dec. 19 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. due to the risk of inclement weather.

Plans are underway for the fifth annual ERDC Under the Lights drive-thru holiday celebration at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg.  

The event, which is open to the public, will be from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 16, 17 and 18. Visitors will enter through Gate 3, just south of the Main Gate at 3909 Halls Ferry Road.  

“We are so excited to invite everyone to join us for the fifth year of ERDC Under the Lights,” said Col. Teresa Schlosser, ERDC’s commander. “It’s a great, family-friendly way to celebrate the holiday season and get a peek at our laboratories and facilities where life-saving research happens every day.”

While there is no cost of admission, non-perishable food items and toys will be accepted as donations to the local food pantry and Good Shepherd Community Center. In 2020, approximately 7,000 pounds of food were donated to Vicksburg’s Storehouse Community Food Pantry.  

“In addition to this being a festive and fun event, it’s also an opportunity for us to give back to the community that we are a part of,” Schlosser explained. “We’re very proud of the donations we’ve collected in the past at ERDC Under the Lights, and we’re excited to continue that spirit of giving this year.”  

After entering the station and dropping off any donations, visitors will make their way through the 700-acre campus, past decorations at the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Headquarters Building, Environmental Laboratory,  Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, Information Technology Laboratory, as well as many other research and development hangars and facilities. At the end of the display, traffic will exit onto the 1200 block of Porters Chapel  Road.  

As one of the most diverse engineering and scientific research organizations in the world, ERDC helps solve the nation’s most challenging problems in civil and military engineering, geospatial sciences, water resources and environmental sciences for the Army, Department of Defense, civilian agencies and the public. ERDC, headquartered in Vicksburg, operates seven laboratories in four states with more than 2,100 employees and a $1 billion annual research program.