The other day we happened to be in downtown La Crosse after sundown and had some time so we decided to join the masses and visit the Rotary Lights in Riverside Park. It has become quite a spectacle in its 18 years of existence.
Some 3000 volunteers give of their time to provide this impressive display of 2.6 million lights on the Mississippi. Those volunteers include many organizations besides the Police Reserve who help direct the constant traffic once sundown arrives.
The Rotary Lights mission is to "feed the hungry of the Coulee Region." A myriad of non profit organizations take turns sponsoring each night of the display. Upon departure of the park you are asked for a monetary/ food donation. Over 200,000 items of food were collected last year and this year's goal is to reach 250,000. In 17 years over two million items have been collected. That's a lot of food but there unfortunately is a lot of need...
Little kids stood in awe of the Christmas light magic with so much to take in. One little person with a huge smile on her face opened her arms as wide as she could embracing the splendor of the sight. A variety of Christmas music both live and canned added to the festive night air. Deep within me I didn't really care at the moment that this was adding to light pollution but what I really wished was that next year not so many people would be hungry...
If you would like to learn more about the Rotary Lights go to:
http://www.rotarylights.org/
and if you are in the Milwaukee area here is a link to the northshore's light display map to visit individual home light masterpieces:
Whitefish Bay Light Display
Such a sweet image - I could imagine the little one with her arms spread wide.
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