Let us today celebrate one of the positive things in our community. With the seasonal opening last week of the Enchanted Land of Lights and Legends holiday display in Regional Park, we have more than a glimmer about which to crow.
While he’s always quick to share credit, festival director Greg Gustek, deserves hearty congratulations for christening one more season of holiday joy. Without his tireless work, the festival wouldn’t happen. Even if it did, it’d likely not have the splendor his devotion makes possible.
As recently reported in The Commercial, Gustek commented on the 2011 opening, “We are excited to be celebrating the 15th year of the state’s largest drive-through of holiday lights. We have over 200 displays in 156 locations and added 12 new displays for this year. We have been so successful that we are running out of park. If you have a 1.2-mile park and you fill it up, you’re doing well. That’s why we are the state’s largest holiday light display.”
“The state’s largest display…” — being able to claim a “first” in any positive category is worth cheering. In many ways this festival serves as a metaphor for the unrealized potential of our community.
If one man, buttressed by a handful of workers, a cadre of volunteers and a few generous sponsors, can turn a dark soggy beach into a winter wonderland — every year larger than the last — for a decade and a half, just imagine what we could do with a little more muscle.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Anybody who has ever spent 20 seconds in Gustek’s presence knows how strongly he feels about our community. He is an unreserved champion of Pine Bluff’s possibilities. Even in the face of substantial reason for doubt, Gustek maintains a firmly optimistic outlook.
The more grinchy among you might deride Gustek’s perspective as unrealistic or Pollyannaish, but a little time with him elicits the obvious pragmatism the undergirds his hopeful demeanor. Gustek is likely hopeful not because of the results he has realized with the festival, but because of the effort required to make it so.
It may seem a paradox, but that tends to be the way of positive people. The herculean effort required to make big things happen tends to fade in the light (in this case Christmas lights) of the success.
The projected 110,000 visitors that will see the lights this year validate every second of work and every dollar needed for the festival to take place.
This too, is a lesson we could well-learn as a community. Big problems take big effort, but those efforts pale in comparison to efforts required to weather the problems. With the approaching winter a gardening analogy may be an indirect comparison, but it’s no less apt. Think of it this way: Planting a successful garden takes months of constant effort. Soil must be broken, furrows plowed, seeds planted, new shoots tended, plants thinned and fertilized. Only after all of that do we have food to eat. Yes, it’s a great deal of work, but on balance, it’s a much easier road than going hungry.
It just happens that in Gustek’s garden the plants sparkle. We need a few more farmers of his ilk and a few more gardens of hope. Lights and Legends will be taking place through Dec. 31, between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. each night. It’s worth the trip.