On Dec. 4, the student association, SAIL hosted a trip to go see “Bright Nights” located in Springfield’s Forest park. Bright Nights is a slow drive through the park to look at the large and intricate collection of holiday lights. The lights range from Christmas-themed to dinosaurs to Dr. Seuss.
The event was free of charge for students, but limited seats were available, so signups filled up fast.
Bright Nights is a tradition that started in 1995 to bring the joy of Christmas to the city of Springfield and has accumulated over five million visitors ever since. Bright Nights is a collaboration between the City of Springfield’s parks and recreation and the Spirit of Springfield, a non-profit organization (brightnights.org).
Although Westfield State students only got to partake in seeing the lights, there are other attractions to behold as well, including a gift shop and pictures with Santa. Bright Nights also holds ‘themed’ nights such as Military and Emergency Responders night, which took place the night of the trip. The park honors our current soldiers and active emergency responders by giving free admission to the lights show. (brightnights.org)
Visitors can also tune in to a local radio station to listen to “Santa” guide them through the park and listen to Christmas music.
The Dr. Seuss section was a fan favorite. It included light-ups of the Grinch along with other non-Christmas stories like the Lorax.
The board-game themed lights were popular as well, with a light-up Candyland and the Game of Life.
The event was very nostalgic for many. As a child, my own family would wander local neighborhoods to see all the Christmas displays. My father is very active in decorating our house to the point of resembling the home from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation as well.
SAIL also has an upcoming trip to New York City this Saturday, Dec. 7. Students will be dropped off for the day via bus and picked up later at night. New York City will be decorated for the holidays and will certainly fill WSU students with holiday joy.
