Lakewood’s Nights of Lights

It is rumored his first wife Mary Cordelia Davis’s favorite color was blue. Hence the beginning of decorating the Colonial Center with blue lights during the Christmas season. Mary (Davis) Clapp inspired owners of nearby shopping centers to follow the color scheme, and in the late 1930’s blue bulbs symbolized the holiday spirit of community businesses. For decades, people would travel from all over the South Sound to see the City luminous with sparkling blue lights ~ and it became a destination for holiday shoppers. Sadly, business complexes were bought and sold, often to those who have no local ties. The blue lights aged, and by the 1970’s were all but a warm memory to locals.

But they took on new meaning after Nov. 29, 2009, when our four Lakewood police officers were gunned down at a Parkland coffee shop. In the weeks after the tragedy, blue lights blazed throughout the region in memory of Sgt. Mark Renninger and officers Tina Griswold, Greg Richards and Ronald Owens.

The blue lights are scarcely used by the business community ~ and the goal is to reawaken this tradition of the blue lights as they were 80 years ago beginning December 2019.

A community awareness campaign showcasing the business district along Gravelly Lake Drive will be the primary focus, although the entire business community will be encouraged to “go blue.”

An outdoor community gathering with caroling, cocoa and an official “building lighting” is proposed to begin on the Motor Avenue Event Site. The Holiday Blue Light Drive will showcase and incorporate the new urban design concept of Motor Avenue to kick-start a vibrant and welcoming public space within the City’s central business district.

The Chamber of Commerce is looking for some dedicated volunteers who are willing to do some legwork and door-to-door visitations to encourage local businesses to “go blue.”