Not too late to see the lights
Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 24, 2001
By Leslie Moriarty
Herald Writer
It’s been a hectic holiday season, but if you’re still not tired of Christmas, you’re in luck.
It’s not over until the Lights of Christmas in Warm Beach say it’s over.
And they won’t say it’s over until they’re through with their last session Thursday through Sunday night.
More than 800 volunteers, many of them seniors from the nearby Warm Beach Senior Community, have worked long and hard on the project.
Don’t stop to count them, but there are more than 850,000 lights.
Warm Beach Christian Camp and Conference Center is all lit up for the holidays. It’s the fifth year for the holiday lighting exhibit.
Although in warm weather the camp is a place for youngsters to play, come fall volunteers start working to make it a winter wonderland.
Ed McDowell, executive director of the camp and conference center, said shortly after the summer camp closes, volunteers begin to prepare the place for the winter festival.
Seniors who live at nearby Warm Beach Senior Community help test the thousands of lights, making sure they’ll carry their color another year.
Some run errands to the hardware stores. Still others help coordinate the local church volunteers who climb the ladders to hang the lights.
On Thanksgiving weekend, there’s an all-out effort to get the place ready to open the following weekend.
Candy cane cutouts are placed along the sidewalks. Lace curtains are hung in the meeting rooms that are transformed into a cafe, a dinner-theater palace and even Joyland, where Santa lives throughout the event.
It was six years ago when Warm Beach Camp board member Roger Hancuff returned from a trip to Nashville, Tenn., where he saw Opryland decked out for Christmas.
That gave him the idea for something similar at the Warm Beach Camp.
When Hancuff told McDowell about the idea, they decided it was the perfect way to honor the Christian holiday and to create a place where families could experience wholesome fun and fellowship.
The Lights of Christmas are open from 5 to 10 p.m. and include five entertainment stages and 22 music performances nightly, everything from western bluegrass to sock hop tunes.
Polar Express train ride, pony rides, wagon rides and a petting zoo are on the grounds, all free for the kids.
Or maybe you’d like to have a talk with "Bruce the Spruce," Washington’s Only Talking Christmas Tree.
There is a stunning larger-than-life Nativity scene. A Victorian tea room and a gifts and crafts fair also is handy for those who want to partake.
The aroma of hot fresh donuts fills the air while festivalgoers delight to carols sung by Victorian carolers in costume.
A sign language interpreter for the deaf will be on site Friday.
Cost is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $5 for kids. Kids age 3 and younger are free.
For more information and directions call 1-800-228-6724, or check out www.warmbeach.com.
You can call Herald Writer Leslie Moriarty at 425-339-3436 or send e-mail to
Hours: 5 to 10 p.m.
Entertainment: Five stages and 22 music performances nightly, everything from western bluegrass to sock hop tunes.
Cost: $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $5 for kids. Age 3 and younger free.
Directions: Take the 206 exit off I-5 and go about 9 1/2miles west, turning right both at Lakewood Road and Marine Drive.
Questions: For more information call 800-228-6724, or check out www.warmbeach.com.
