"We all shine on..." — John Lennon
After so much darkness in the wake of the storm, several Durham neighborhoods will light up their luminarias this weekend to usher in the holiday season.
Folks in the Old West Durham neighborhood and beyond will hold their annual Night of Lights ceremony Sunday night. Bad weather and piles of debris made members of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association consider postponing the event.
"But we needed a party," said John Schelp, president of the association. "It´s time to have a party, not to postpone."
In addition to the luminarias placed around the traffic circles and near the neighborhood sign on Ninth Street, Schelp and friends will throw that party at an old residential speak-easy on Virgie Street Sunday night. The association loosely coordinates the event with surrounding neighborhoods, including Watts-Hillandale, Trinity Park and Old North Durham.
Legend has it that the Virgie Street home in Old West Durham was a popular gathering spot during Prohibition. Schelp said two doors opened into the house´s back yard. One was prominent and led nowhere, but another smaller, hidden door led to a room with locked, floor-to-ceiling cabinets filled with neighbors´ spirits.
"According to neighbors, White Lightning was the brew of choice," Schelp said.
White Lightning no longer, warm cider and snacks will await neighbors and city and county officials invited to pop in.
Tom Miller, president of the Watts-Hillandale Neighborhood Association, will sell materials to construct the candlelit luminarias, including sand, for 50 cents a luminaria at Oval Park today from 1 to 6 p.m. Miller and other volunteers will also accept donations and canned goods for Durham´s Community Kitchen.
Last year, the association raised more than $4,000 for the Community Kitchen, but Miller´s not sure how many people will turn out this year because of residual effects of the storm.
In good years, Miller said curious onlookers could drive through neighborhoods from Hillandale Road near the reservoir to Avondale Drive to view the light-lined streets.
With piles of limbs on curbs and downed trees still waiting for to be moved, the luminarias´ winding path might be obstructed Sunday night. But fighting a busted pipe in his own home, Miller said neither calamity nor tree debris would stop the neighborhoods from carrying on with tradition.
"We´re definitely on," he said. "We´ll certainly not going to stop and cry in our beer."
On the Web: www.owdna.org/lights.htm for information on how to construct a luminary.