Downtown to illuminate Friday

Downtown Bloomington will come alive with 25 miles of white lights and family activities during the Canopy of Lights Festival Friday. The annual event is sponsored by the Downtown Bloomington Commission and several other community organizations. \nBloomington residents will count down together at 7 p.m. as a Bloomington Fire Department firefighter dressed as Santa Claus turns on the canopy to light up downtown. The lights will remain on until Jan. 10.\n"The main point of the celebration is to bring people downtown to celebrate and appreciate our wonderful downtown," said Louise Schlesinger, and marketing director of WonderLab, a participant in the event.\nThe Canopy of Lights flows down from the top of the Courthouse and connects to the buildings surrounding the Monroe Country Courthouse Square. The lights include the canopy, a Hospice Tree, bright snowflakes and bulbs that cover the trees and buildings around the square.\nThe Hospice Tree is part of the Light Up a Life program. The fund-raiser offers the chance for residents to buy a light on the Hospice Tree in memory of a loved one who has passed away. The program's director, Ellen Surburg, said the Hospice Tree lights sell for $10, but Surburg said no one has been refused from buying a light if they do not have that much. Participants who purchase a light receive a card to send to the family of the deceased and an ornament in memory of that person. There will also be a large board in the square with the names of the remembered. Mayor-elect Mark Kruzan will have the honor of lighting the tree.\n"The program is a wonderful memory for the community," Surburg said. "It's good to know we remember loved ones who have passed especially during the holiday season."\nThe celebration includes a community sing, where Bloomington Chambers Choirs and many other local groups will perform for the crowd. There will also be hot chocolate, cookies, candy canes and many other goodies. \nDowntown stores and restaurants are extending their hours and offering special events to coincide with the holiday season. Showers Commons, at Eighth and Morton Streets, will host outdoor vendors. WonderLab remain open later\n"WonderLab is extending its hours so people can enjoy the warmth before walking to the square," Schlesinger said.\nWonderLab, the museum of science, health and technology, 308 W. Fourth St., is offering a holiday craft station where children of any age can color a picture of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and then put a working light bulb in his nose and see how electricity works. Visitors can also buy a pair of rainbow glasses for $1 that turns the canopy of white lights into a multicolored light show. Admission to the museum is $5.50 for children, $6 for seniors and $6.50 for adults. \nTalisha Coppock, director of the Downtown Bloomington Commission, said regardless of which aspect of the event people choose to attend, each offers something for everyone. \n"The whole event gives people a cozy hometown feeling that brings the community together and makes us proud to live in a small town that loves its residents so much," Coppock said. \n-- Contact staff writer Amy Barnicle at abarnicl@indiana.edu.