by Arline Chandler

Against a backdrop of four million twinkling lights, the stage is magically set for the glittering Holiday Light Parade.

In the Missouri Ozarks near Branson, Silver Dollar City, a theme park patterned from an old mining town, celebrates an Old Time Christmas. With the freshness of a newborn babe, the theme of Christmas Gifts sings throughout the highly acclaimed entertainment park.

Against a backdrop of four million twinkling lights, the stage is magically set for the glittering Holiday Light Parade; the most imaginative addition to the annual old-fashioned Christmas celebration since the five-story tree first lit up the Square. Appearing twice nightly, the parade of seven enchanting floats, and a coterie of sparkling characters in costumes trimmed with lights, captures the miraculous gift-giving spirit of Christmas.

Three years in the planning and construction stages, the light-hearted, colorful parade had its roots in Houston, Texas. Always on the lookout for new components for all its five festivals, a Silver Dollar City team traveled to different Christmas celebrations around the nation. Intrigued by the Light Parade at Second Baptist Church in the big Texas town, the City took a crew of its construction personnel to gather information on the building and operation of the lighted floats. They developed adaptations that would allow the vehicles to roll along the hilly streets of Silver Dollar City.

Next, the City's creative teams worked on a story line for the upcoming parade, settling on Gifts of Christmas. A theme that fits into the heart and soul of Silver Dollar City, the story begins with a train that desires to be certain the gifts of Christmas make it to the children of the Ozarks. The"Little Engine That Could" picks up the packages and proceeds to the City to deliver them into the hands and hearts of the kids.

An artist followed up on the theme and rendered sketches for each of the floats. With the detailed designs, Silver Dollar City's in-house construction crews proceeded to build the smiley-faced Train Engine, Jack-in-the-Box, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Gingerbread House, Snow Globe, Santa's Workbench, and the Nativity.

According to Brad Thomas, Assistant General Manager at Silver Dollar City, a team of approximately 12 worked resolutely on the floats from summer until the debut of the parade in early November. In all, the entire planning process included over 50 people in all levels of the Silver Dollar City organization.

"Not only did our folks build the floats, but they came up with the procedure for construction" Thomas says. "For the Snow Globe, we wanted a snow bubble with the snow spinning around a snowman. The design and construction crew had to figure out how to make that work. The Snow Globe presented one of the biggest challenges in the parade."

Twice each evening during the Christmas season, close to 30 people facilitate the parade, including drivers for each of the floats, walking characters, characters on the floats, and costumed people who guide the floats along the people-lined streets in the park. "The Gifts of Christmas" a song written and produced for Silver Dollar City's particular parade wafts through the lighted treetops and circles the ear muffs of parade goers. Each float plays a different rendition of the same song. Slight changes on each of the floats highlight the different scenarios.

On Santa's Workbench, the music is higher pitched to simulate elves speaking to Santa. The last and ultimate float, the nativity scene, depicting the Greatest Gift of All, the song mixes the"Gifts of Christmas" with"Joy to the World"

"The characters along the route garner high acclaim from folks of all ages, but especially from parents with kids" Thomas continues."When the gingerbread man bends down to shake the hand of a small child, or the princess looks in the eyes of a kid, it's exhilarating to see their eyes open wide at something bigger than anything their imagination has encountered. The same is true for adults. When we see lights and characters, we're caught up in something that's big, fun, and exciting.

"We look forward to the parade staying with Silver Dollar City for many years" states Thomas,"And we look forward to different components that can be added or changed within the parade."

Old Time Christmas runs from early November through the end of December. The park is open Wednesdays through Sundays for the Christmas season.

Copyright Arline Chandler