San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
DRIVE-THRU HOLIDAY LIGHT SPECTACLE SET FOR VISTA
Free ‘Jingle Terrace Park’ show will run Dec. 5-28 in Brengle Terrace Park
To give families some COVID-SAFE entertainment this holiday season, the city of Vista will launch a free drive-thru holiday light and decorations spectacle on Dec. 5 in Brengle Terrace Park.
Hosted by the city’s Cultural
Arts Division, the “Jingle Terrace Park” show will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. nightly Dec. 5 through 28 at 1200 Vale Terrace Drive. The city plans to make it an annual event.
Drivers traveling one way through the park’s 1-mile loop will pass through nine “lands” representing the city’s recreation and community services programs and other Vista-inspired places. Among them will be an “Ahoy to the World” section for the Wave Waterpark, “Steal Home for the Holidays” for its youth sports pro
“’Twas the Moonlight Before Christmas” for the city’s Moonlight Stage Productions theater company, “Winter Solstice” for the city-owned Rancho Buena Vista Adobe, “Merry and Flight” for Vista’s public art program and “Santa’s Workshop” for its senior services programs. Also featured will be tributes to Vista’s craft breweries and the city’s Fire Department.
The roughly 90 scenic elements for the show are being built by Mike Bradford, an employee of the Moonlight Cultural Foundation. The lights will be installed by Delights of Christmas, which has produced light displays for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Naval Medical Center San Diego.
The project was conceived by Colleen Kollar Smith, who is the city’s cultural arts program manager and managing director of Moonlight Stage Productions. She wanted to find a way to keep families entertained this fall, since Moonlight and the Wave Waterpark both had to caning cel their 2020 seasons due to the pandemic. Also, the Vista Chamber of Commerce recently announced it has canceled its annual downtown Christmas parade, which was scheduled for Dec. 5.
“December is typically a time to gather, reflect, and celebrate,” Smith said in a statement. “Although we are unable to do so in traditional ways this year, we know our community is longing to connect. We are excited to fill that need in a safe and special way and we hope it will become a new tradition for years to come.”
Although Moonlight hasn’t been able to produce any onstage theater this year, it also announced this past week that it will present an audio streaming performance of “Miracle on 34th Street: A Musical Radio Play,” beginning Dec. 10. Adapted and written by Lance Arthur Smith, the radio-style musical will feature songs by Jon Lorenz. Kollar Smith is directing the piece with a cast of Moonlight veterans, includgrams, Ralph Johnson as Kris Kringle. Tickets are $25 for an audio download link.
The cost for the Jingle Terrace Park project is $49,000, and all but $4,500 has been raised through donations and sponsorships. Donors include Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, the Moonlight Cultural Foundation, the new nonprofit Friends of Vista to support the city’s Recreation & Community Services programs, Dick Miller Inc., Harris and Associates, HDR Inc., Dudek, STC Traffic Inc., Friends of the Vista Fire Department, the Vista Fire Fighters Association and the Vista Chamber of Commerce.
The San Diego Food Bank has also signed on as a partner for Jingle Terrace Park. Its representatives will be on-site every night collecting donations from cars as they drive by.
For details on Jingle Terrace Park or “Miracle on 34th Street,” call (760) 7242110 or visit cityofvista.com/ holidays.