THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511280131
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: SCOTT MCCASKEY
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
I'm definitely not a humbug, but even amid all the reminders and hype, it's not always easy to maintain the Christmas spirit once the season arrives.
Day-to-day rigors, money matters and Norfolk's knack for often being 70 degrees as the big day approaches make it easy to drift into seasonal lethargy. And waiting until the last week to do all my shopping doesn't always guarantee lifting that holiday feeling.
Because of this ``fleeting Christmas'' syndrome, there's always room for any event to heighten the glow. Although not quite as bright as it could be, the Garden of Lights at the Norfolk Botanical Garden is a pleasant illumination of the season's spirit.
It's impossible to miss the show's somewhat gaudy red and green sign at the entrance on Azalea Garden Road, but winding toward Lake Whitehurst and into the shimmering reflections of the lights in the woods is the lure of shapes to come. With only parking lights on, slowly driving past the iridescent archways, the show begins in earnest.
A neon hummingbird dips into a flower. A windmill winds on a knoll. A towering rainbow pours into a shining pot of gold.
Three exhibits down the trail and you're into the spring section of the Garden of Lights' four seasons theme. Summer quickly follows with 13-foot rose blooms and three-dimensional-looking mushrooms. Fall is ushered in with a pumpkin patch and a 15-foot scarecrow waving at the spectators.
Appropriately, it's not until winter that the display begins its crescendo. Blizzard Arches of blue and white lights lend an elegant entrance to Frosty, Santa and the blinking shapes of the snowflake forest. The finale is Candy Land, where 22-foot Nutcracker soldiers guard giant lollipops and a gingerbread house.
Although most of the 16 exhibits are quite impressive, some border on mediocre. One was unrecognizable - at least to me. I thought the jumping frog of summer was a flying fish.
Some 200,000 five-watt lightbulbs are strung in 13 miles of color. I think, however, that a larger proportion of white and blue as opposed to red and green would have given a crisper element of class and more of a seasonal feeling. And a few more exhibits would make it all the better.
Actually, though, driving along the trail is kind of a treat in itself. Cruising over the bridges and roads is usually allowed only in the trains or by foot.
And you have to credit the garden employees who assembled the configurations from out of the suppliers' boxes. More than eight miles of extension cords were used.
This is the second annual Garden of Lights show. Some 42,000 cars and 200,000 people attended the event last year, raising $60,000. Administrators hope for at least an equal turnout this season.
``This is our biggest money-maker,'' said Jill Doczi, garden public relation coordinator.
Last year's start-up costs ran about $250,000. An additional $30,000 in upgrades were added this year, mostly for more animation. Among the new additions are the hummingbird, scarecrow, the aforementioned leaping frog, and an expanded snowflake forest.
The show began Nov. 22 and will run through Jan. 1. Admission is $7 per vehicle Monday through Thursday, $9 Friday through Sunday. Hours are 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
It takes about 30 minutes to drive the trail. The best times to go are during the week, not only because it's less expensive, but also because it's not as crowded. There can be a 30-minute waiting line on the weekends. The closer to Christmas it gets, the more people there are.
The Garden of Lights show was created by Peter Lawrence, the garden's director of marketing and development. Lawrence had heard of a similar light show at a zoo near Seattle and suggested the idea to the garden's board in 1993.
Lawrence is optimistic about this year's show but expressed some concern that Virginia Beach's Boardwalk light show might detract from what the Botanical Garden is doing.
Although I love the beach in the summer, sand and surf is as far from the Christmas experience as I could imagine.
I'll stay in Norfolk with the garden and the forest.
Who knows, maybe this year we'll get some snow. by CNB