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A million lights illuminate holiday riverwalk

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 15, 2007 |

Clarksville is about to light up its annual Christmas gift to the community: Christmas on the Cumberland. Mayor John Piper will flip the switch and start the magic in a special ceremony on Tuesday, November 20 at 6:30 p.m. on the McGregor Riverfront Walk on Riverside Drive. This year’s theme is The Spirit of Christmas.

This holiday event is indeed a gift, this blazing display of lights and imagery reflected in the dark wintry waters of the Cumberland. It launches the start of the holiday season and will run through January 1.

The familiar Christmas villages, small vignettes, snowpeople, skaters, Santa’s workshop with dancing elves, and two arched lighted tunnels line the meandering walkways of the park, inviting a evening stroll and the casual camaraderie of friends and will be familiar to anyone who has visited in the past.

This year’s new additions include 23 additional lighted display pieces that feature gingerbread boys and girls playing, Santa fishing, a boy fishing, jumping fish, Santa water skiing, a sea monster, skating bears, and a custom-made display honoring the 101st Airborne Division. Over a million lights have been installed.

In our city, it’s free and open to anyone who cares to stroll the walkways in the dark of evenin, though many communities use events of this kind as fundraisers and actually charge fees for the privilege of viewing. Christmas on the Cumberland lights up Sunday through Thursday from 5-10 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 5-11 p.m. A Limited number of wheelchairs are available for those who need such assistance in accessing the displays.

Created in 1999, the year of the city’s tornado, the concept has quickly become tradition and is one of the best things the city has done, both for its citizens and for its image as a community on the grow. For more information on this event, call the Parks and recreation Department at 648-6129 or 648-6124.

About Christine Anne Piesyk

With 40 years behind me (Huh? What? How did that happen?) as a journalist, feature writer, investigative reporter, editor, and film/theater/arts critic, I brought my liberal New England activism to Tennessee several years ago. having completed a midlife undergraduate degree in community organizing and women's studies, and an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts. I am currently an MFA student at Goddard College. I served on Future Search Commissions for two colleges and an issue-specific commission for the City of Northampton, MA, and did minor undergraduate work in studies in urban planning and community development. I am a community volunteer and a member of FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties. I am a certified storm spotter. In my spare time (define spare time please?) I am a voracious reader, obsessive movie buff, classical music junkie; I also and design and make sci-fi/fantasy and renaissance costumes. I have an unquenchable interest in just about everything. I see life as an ongoing opportunity for learning and adventure, with the best things still to come. All posts by Christine Anne Piesyk as presented on Clarksville Online are copyright ©2006, 2007 to the author.

Email: womanspeak@yahoo.com

Sections: Events, News
Topics: Christmas, Christmas on the Cumberland, Holidays, McGregor Park, Riverwalk

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