Annual lighting display kicks off holidays

'Tis the season to be jolly within the Bloomington community, especially when one is illuminated under a canopy of white light stretching from the Courthouse throughout the downtown area.\nDespite the frightful chilling November weather, hundreds of Hoosier residents, families and friends trekked downtown Friday night for the 19th annual "Canopy of Lights" holiday celebration at the Bloomington courthouse square. Beginning with yuletide anthems blared from the Bloomington Brass Band and ending with photo opportunities with Santa Claus in Fountain Square Mall, hundreds of thousands of holiday lights were ceremoniously ignited by the flip of a switch to continue "A Sparkling Holiday Tradition."\nFollowing a brief introduction to the evening festivities by Keith Klein, the master of ceremonies, and Jim Murphy, president of the Downtown Bloomington Commission, Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan welcomed the crowd to the city's winter wonderland, which shows no sign of stopping in years to come. \n"This is why we live in Bloomington," Kruzan said. "It's an amazing experience, such tradition after 19 years. This is the time of the year to think back to what you were doing a year ago -- mark your life."\nAs an integral part of the "Canopy of Lights" procession, the Hospice Community Trees were lit to signify the financial contributions donated to Hospice in the memory and dedication of loved ones. Hospice cares for terminally-ill community residents -- each light represents a single contribution. \nLeading a community winter holiday sing-along, Polka Dot the Clown, Bloomington's favorite sideshow, sent her four red and green costumed elves scattering around town to find Santa Claus so he could command the "Canopy of Lights" countdown. While Polka Dot encouraged audience participation in the way of vibrating vocal chords, some Hoosier moms employed hip-shaking and booty-wiggling to calm their cold and crying children straddled on their sides.\n"If you don't sing loud, Santa won't come," Polka Dot said. "Who's not smiling? Raise your hand if you're not smiling."\nUpon returning to the stage with Santa in tow, the elves joined the crowd in a frenzy of wild cheers; the ruckus drowned out the crumble of dried yellow leaves beneath the trod of freezing feet and frozen hands lining the perimeter of the courthouse lawn four persons deep. \nWhen asked whether he is promoting the corporate hijacking of Jesus's winter birthday celebration or if he was stealing the spotlight away from the myth of Jesus Christ, Santa said he had "no comment." \n"I'm impartial about those things," Santa said while chuckling with children seated on both knees. All three displayed their top row of teeth for the flash of a Polaroid camera. "You have to be good all year. A good kid is one that shows a lot of love to their family."\nGeneil Ison, a reading specialist at Highland Park Elementary School, said Christmas is a time of magic for children -- "the celebration of Christ's birthday."\n"We are Bloomington people, and we came to light up the town," Ison said corralling her two children beneath her sprawled arms. "All kids are good; they all have some good in them. Most of the bad has been inherited or modeled by someone. It is a lot of fun to see children excited." \nAs the "Canopy of Lights" celebratory community fire extinguished itself and Fifth Street reopened to public traffic, the kettle corn vendors from Oden, Ind. were left to pack in Bloomington's traditional holiday season nighttime city lights.\n"We sell kettle corn as a last ditch effort to keep the family farm from going under," Chris Voster said while supervising neighbors manning the copper kettle with wooden paddles. "We work a traditional 1865 farm: corn, soybean and cattle. The small farm ain't no more. They made a lot of kettle corn during the Great Depression times."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.