Cider, lights to start holiday season

Bugles will blare, cider and hot chocolate will be passed around and downtown Bloomington will burst into light for the Canopy of Lights celebration.

Santa Claus will take the stage at 7 p.m. Friday on the south side of the square, where he’ll start the holiday season with the flip of a switch.

The lights, strung from the courthouse to surrounding buildings, will transform the scene after a day full of festivities.

“It’s really one of those Bloomington traditional events that brings people together to celebrate the holiday season,” said Talisha Coppock, executive director of Downtown Bloomington, Inc.

In partnership with CFC, Inc., Downtown Bloomington, Inc. has the downtown lighting ceremony annually.

Started in the 1940s, the Canopy of Lights celebration ended for several years and was brought back in 1985, Coppock said.

It’s been a community tradition ever since, and the lights will remain on through New Year’s Day.

In the lead-up to the lighting, WonderLab Museum will extend its hours to 6:30 p.m. Friday and will have a holiday craft station for children.

The Monroe County History Center will also have a free open house from 5 to 9 p.m.
Before Polka Dot the Clown and public officials welcome Santa to the stage, the Bloomington Brass Band will play from 6 to 7 p.m.

Gerald Hanson plays bugle horn for the band. Modeled after British-style brass bands, the community band has no reed or string instruments.

For Canopy of Lights, the weather is sometimes nice, sometimes cold and sometimes snowing, “but as a brass band, we can play in that weather,” Hanson said.

Musicians in the ensemble have cornets instead of trumpets and E-flat horns in place of French horns.
The musicians said they look forward to the Canopy of Lights performance, and it has historically been the band’s largest audience of the season according to Hanson.
“We’re all volunteers,” he said. “We enjoy doing this for the community.”

The band will perform several seasonal arrangements, from “Silver Bells” to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to “Jingle Bells” and other traditional holiday songs.

The Cardinal Stage Company will put on another performance right before the lighting with a number or two from its upcoming production of the musical “Annie.”

A dozen girls from the cast will perform “It’s the Hard Knock Life” on the square, and they might even throw in a surprise number, Artistic Director Randy White said.

“It’s a lot of fun to have the kids up singing and then see the lights turned on,” White said. “We try to pick a high-energy song to show what the play’s about.”

Before the girls take the stage, the Cardinal Stage Company will hand out hot cider in partnership with Bloomingfoods.

The Canopy of Lights event serves to promote local businesses and charities, Coppock said.

The Stuff-A-Bus on the square will accept donations of toys for families in need, and Bloomington Hospital Home Health & Hospice will illuminate Light Up A Life Trees.
“Each one of the lights is sponsored in the name of a friend or family member who has passed away,” Coppock said, adding that each tree represents a donation to the hospice.

The Canopy of Lights celebration will be replete with carolers, cookies and a slew of live performances.

“It makes the whole weekend,” Coppock said.

A full list of this month’s holiday events can be found on the City of Bloomington Website.