While Southern Arizona might not offer many "white Christmases", we Tucsonans do have some options when it comes to getting into the Christmas spirit. If you are yearning for snow, you can wait for the powder to fall on Mount Lemmon. And if you long for glittering lights and heartstring-pulling displays, you need look no further than Winterhaven's Festival of Lights.
Built in the 1940's by developer C.B. Richards, Winterhaven began hosting the Festival of Lights back in 1949. Mr. Richards himself purchased the now towering pines spaced throughout Winterhaven from a local nursery that was closing; he even installed electrical outlets near each tree to make lighting them easier.
If you arrive at this centrally-located neighborhood expecting to see a few strands of lights lining roofs or lit-up trees peeking through windows, you will be pleasantly surprised! Residents of Winterhaven go all out on decorating their homes. Most Winterhaven dwellers decide on a theme and dress their homes and yards accordingly. One home might become a life-size gingerbread house; while another may display Charlie Brown and all his friends around that poignantly sad Christmas tree. My personal favorite is the longstanding display of a larger-than-life Santa Claus kneeling before an equally large yet touchingly simple manger.
Winterhaven is centrally located, bordered by Prince on the North, Country Club on the East, Fort Lowell to the South, and Tucson Boulevard on the West with entrances on both Fort Lowell and Prince.
The Festival of Lights begins Saturday, December 15th and runs through Friday,
December 28th from 5:30 to 10:00 pm. Drive through nights this year are December
18th, 20th and 27th; but consider walking or taking a horse-drawn wagon ride
for some old-fashioned family bonding! While there is no fee to enter Winterhaven,
the focus of the Festival of Lights is to collect food and raise money for
the
Community Food Bank.
For more information, please visit the
Winterhaven Festival of Lights website at
www.winterhavenfestival.org or
call 881-4483.
© 2008 Good News Tucson™
