More News

The folks producing "The Garden of Lights — Seasons of Light" at Brookside Gardens never anticipated the stir they would cause when they moved the 20-foot caterpillar from the park's entrance into the garden last winter. Nor did they expect people would grumble when it was decided that "Nessie" the Loch Ness monster needed to be in the Winter Garden, not in Brookside's perennial fountain. But when it comes to "The Garden of Lights," fans have definite opinions.

It's safe to say that this year, Mr. Caterpillar has returned to the "entrance and people can walk through it either at the beginning or the end of their visit," notes Leslie McDermott, Brookside's spokeswoman. And while Nessie returned to her fountain home last season, this year she is going green with 10,500 LED lights. If all goes as planned, Miss Nessie will bellow and blow a little smoke.

This good-natured fun has a special significance with Brookside Gardens celebrating its big 4-0 this year. With exactly 940,000 lights set to illuminate a half-mile accessible walkway, "The Garden of Lights — Seasons of Light," begins Friday and continues through Jan. 3.

The tour takes visitors through the four seasons, capturing autumn leaves, winter snowflakes, rain showers and sunflowers. New this year, a flock of some 30 flying geese have been placed in the Gude Garden. As the birds honk and squawk, they are electronically designed to appear to be landing and taking off.

Brookside also is working to create a more environmentally friendly light show.

"We use old [sculpture] forms and repurpose them. The 11-foot tall flower-covered giraffe is now covered in 9,000 lights," McDermott notes.

In the last five years, Brookside started converting its incandescent bulbs into LED lights; now some 60 percent of the displays are energy efficient. And it's not all about the power grid; Brookside is experimenting with solar-activated lights. If the test is successful, McDermott hopes "it is an idea that homeowners can use [in their own gardens] in the future."

Thirteen years ago, realizing that few folks visited the gardens in winter, Brookside held its first light show. Now an estimated 40,000 visitors come to the Light Show.

Along with the light show, musicians perform in the Visitors Center Auditorium nightly.

Visitors are invited to donate toys and gifts to benefit Wheaton children, and nonperishable food items for the Shepherd's Table in Silver Spring

Cruisin' through Seneca Creek Park

Gaithersburg's 14th Annual Winter Lights Festival is all about motorists cruising through Seneca Creek State Park. With some 360 displays dotting the 3.2-mile drive, and just like I-270, the light show can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. This year, Teddy Bear Land will be open for a one-mile pedestrian stroll on Monday, Nov. 30, only; visitors will be able to see the rest of the displays on an open air trolley.

With the park's expansive vistas, organizers have been able to incorporate a train station similar to the one in Olde Towne Gaithersburg, a Victorian Village and even the North Pole, complete with penguins and a Toyland amid the hardwood trees. Animals are anthropomorphized, with teddy bears depicted ice skating and snowmobiling.

Winter Lights visitors, like Brookside's, also have ideas about the festival. After experiencing the event, a 90-year old woman sent in her idea for an additional exhibition: a sketch of two bears holding a sign saying ‘Happy New Year.'

"We liked it so much we created it for the light show," recalls Elizabeth Poole, the festival's founder and a programmer with the Gaithersburg Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture.

The City also held a contest asking for suggestions. Students at Gaithersburg High School won for their proposal for the sledding and snowmobiling penguins.

For Poole, the fascination with luminary shows began while on a business trip to Oglebay, W.Va. Happening upon a light show, she was amazed.

"I had never seen one before," she recalls.

At first, the city built its own displays, attaching the lights to handmade wooden forms, and held the event at Summit Farm Park. But the festival organizers had bigger ideas and wanted to create a drive-through experience and set its sights on Seneca Creek Park.

Organizers studied the park's road system and figured out a "natural loop that allowed visitors to see some displays from different angles and a few repeats," Poole says.

Without access to electricity, Pepco had to install transformers.

The event is no small feat, with construction beginning in October. Crews even take canoes out onto the park's lake to assemble the displays.

With 18,000 to 24,000 cars coming each year, after paying costs, all monies go to local charities such as Dolores Swoyer Camp Scholarship Fund.

The Gaithersburg Winter Lights Festival is held Dec. 4 through Jan. 2 at Seneca Creek State Park, 11950 Clopper Road. Hours are Sunday through Thursday, 6 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m. The cost is $12 per car Monday through Thursday and $14 Friday through Sunday. $2 discount coupons are valid Monday through Thursday and are available at Lakeforest Shopping Center. Teddy Bear Land will be open for pedestrians on Monday; the rest of the show can be viewed from an open air trolley. Admission is $4, $3 for City of Gaithersburg residents, free for ages 2 and younger. Call 301-258-6350 or visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/winterlights.

"The Garden lf Lights — Seasons of Light" opens Friday and runs through Sunday, Jan. 3, 5:30 to 9 p.m., with the last car admitted at 8:30 p.m. at Brookside Gardens, 1500 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton. Admission for cars/vans Monday through Thursday is $15, and Friday and Sunday, $20 (cash only). Pedestrians cannot be admitted due to safety regulations. Visitors must drive to the entrance gate. Call 301-962-1453 or visit www.montgomeryparks.org/

brookside/garden_lights.shtm