ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 25, 1996 TAG: 9612260060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
DATELINE: BUCHANAN
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
Luminaria - candles traditionally lit in the Southwest to guide the Christ child into people's homes and hearts - have taken on an added meaning for this small northern Botetourt County town.
"I think they represent that despite all the doom and gloom, Buchanan is going to survive," said Harry Gleason, director of the town's downtown revitalization program.
For 11 Christmas Eves, townspeople have lined parts of Main Street with sand-filled plastic milk jugs, then placed lighted candles inside.
Jean Baber, 72, started Buchanan's luminaria tradition in 1985 after flash flooding devastated the town.
The flood contaminated the town's water supply, so people brought in fresh water in milk jugs, Baber said. The empty jugs were piled up behind the firehouse, and that pile gave Baber the idea of recycling the jugs as luminaria.
She took the idea from a San Antonio, Texas, display she saw while visiting her daughter earlier that year.
Baber and her husband, along with Michael Newman, then-minister of Buchanan's Episcopal Church, set out the town's first luminaria that Christmas Eve.
Her dream ever since has been to see luminaria line both sides of Main Street.
That dream came true last year, thanks, Barber said, to Elizabeth Provost, a Buchanan Elementary School teacher who also serves on the town's special-events committee.
Provost said she often volunteers herself and her fifth-grade class for projects, so she gladly took on the luminaria project last year. The school and townspeople collected about 1,400 milk jugs, then cut flaps from the sides and filled them with sand donated by Global Stone James River.
"There's just no way we could do it without community support," Provost said.
On Tuesday, Provost was hoping the steady rain would subside by nightfall, so the candles could be lit in time for Christmas Eve services.
Provost; Gleason; and William Divers and his three children, Adam, Mark and Laura, braved the cold rain Tuesday afternoon to put the luminaria along Main Street.
The Diverses, who live 10 miles from Buchanan, got involved in the project when Adam Divers, now in seventh grade, was in Provost's class.
By the time they were finished, Provost said the row of milk jugs would stretch from one end of downtown to the other.
Last year's luminaria success was important because it marked the beginning of the town's revitalization efforts, Gleason said. For years, the town had more empty storefronts than occupied ones.
Last year's Christmas celebration, which also included a tree lighting and a parade, showed that people would come back downtown, Gleason said. Thus far, $1.5million in private-sector money has been spent downtown.
Baber's dream has helped rekindle the town's spirit.
"When they saw the whole town aglow, some of the older residents came up to me, crying," Gleason said. "They were so proud of the town."
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER/Staff. 1. Third-grader Mark Divers carriesby CNBmilk jugs containing candles (above) to be placed along Main Street
in downtown Buchanan on Tuesday afternoon. 2. He and his father
(background) were going to place more than 1,000 containers
throughout downtown. Harry Gleason, revitalization program manager
for Buchanan, lights candles (below) on the steps of the Buchanan
Baptist Church. color.