It's a drain on manpower and generates one heck of a light bill, but the Lights of the Ozarks is well worth the return on the investment.
From roughly Thanksgiving through New Year's Day, the massive Christmas lights display turns nighttime to daytime, drawing thousands of visitors to the Fayetteville square. Millions of tiny lights strung across every branch and bush create a warm glow that can be seen from miles away and all-too-well if you're lucky enough to have a luxury condominium overlooking it all.
Allyson Twiggs Dyer, director of the Fayetteville Visitors Bureau, says it's best to be in the vicinity of the square in time for the daily 5 p.m. lighting. She and others in her office on the square rush to the front window to watch every evening.
"It's the coolest thing in the world. [The lights] all come on at once. We tick-tock it down every night, and we squeal, even though we know it's coming," she says.
The initial lighting takes place in conjunction with a Christmas parade on Nov. 22. Santa usually rides in on a fire truck, and kids fill themselves full of fair-type fare.
Lights of a more rustic kind are known to cast a festive glow around Pinnacle Country Club for the members-only club's annual Candlelight Dinner. More than 1,000 candles illuminate every driveway, walkway, hallway, table and windowsill on a night when no other lighting is used. And for this formal affair, long dresses and scarves and other potentially flammable wardrobe items are discouraged.
Another exclusive event is Mercy Health Foundation of Northwest Arkansas' annual Charity Ball & Auction at the John Q. Hammons Center. While details of this year's Dec. 5 event are still being finalized, the 2008 gala was attended by about 1,100 of the area's most well-heeled residents and featured a performance by country music artist Martina McBride, a filet mignon dinner and a visit from a tuxedoed Gov. Mike Beebe.
The Junior League of Northwest Arkansas' annual Winter Dreams Tour of Homes, set for Dec. 6, provides a glimpse at works by the area's top interior decorators and designers, as well as the homeowners. The tour usually stretches from one end of Interstate 540 to the other and includes a wide variety of tastes, from traditional to downright eccentric. Tickets are $20 each but worth their weight in gold for the Christmas decorating ideas.
And for a nonalcoholic, hassle-free way to end the year with family and young friends, First Night Fayetteville is at the Northwest Arkansas Mall. The 2008 event drew more than 2,000 New Year's Eve revelers, with another 500-700 participating in free outdoor music and visual-art venues.
Insider Tips
- m Shop early and support the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Auxiliary by buying a Partners Card, good for a 20 percent discount at some 60 of the area's high-end and luxury retailers. The cards are sold in late summer for use during a specified week, usually the end of October and into November.
- m The Junior League of Northwest Arkansas' Winter Tour of Homes is a great Sunday afternoon break from the hectic holidays. Leave the children at home and linger longer to take in the decor.
- m For Christmas and hostess gifts that boast "homemade" without making them yourself, the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks has Holiday Farmers Market in early December. Vendors from the Fayetteville Farmers Market sell live greenery, wreaths, produce, gifts and the like.
- m The annual Rogers Community Christmas Parade in historic downtown Rogers is a popular and inexpensive activity. Get there early to stake your claim along the parade route. Pre-parade entertainment - school and church group choirs and performances by students of area dance studios begin as early as 6:15 p.m.
- m Organizers of this year's First Night Fayetteville celebration are hoping to reach out to a more diverse audience and include more teenagers. Special programming notes will be posted online at www.firstnightfayetteville.org. Most festivities are inside the Northwest Arkansas Mall, so be prepared to carry a heavy coat if you wear one. A stroller comes in handy to carry the goodies and creations that kids will make or receive from vendors.
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