More News, Updates and Photos from The Spirit

Celebrating Springfield's Biggest, Best and Brightest!

The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year at the Spirit of Springfield, and we would not want it any other way. It is a joy and a privilege to be busy spreading happiness with holiday music, holiday lights, and holiday delights. Our mission is to bring the community together in celebration, and this is the perfect time of the year to make that happen.

We thank everyone who has supported the Spirit of Springfield throughout 2021. This includes our sponsors, donors, volunteers, cheerleaders, board members, Mayor Sarno, Springfield City Council, the Western Massachusetts Legislative delegation, and you.

We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Three Kings Day, and a bright, shiny and healthy New Year!

-- Judy Matt

President

Bright Nights Glowing Season

There are 675,000 lights, plus the new ones added this year, that illuminate the three-mile drive through Bright Nights at Forest Park. The tour starts with the Poinsettia Fantasy entrance, features a poinsettia arch, and the Giant Poinsettia Candles lighting a safe way home. The new displays, which all point to Santa’s Magical Forest, are funded in part by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.

There are displays that celebrate Springfield’s rich history like Seuss Land, Everett Barney Mansion, Victorian Village, Toy Land, and Happy Holidays Springfield. All have a direct connection to Springfield.

Some displays celebrate the cold winter months in New England including the Winter Garden, Winter Woods, and the North Pole Village. The Garden of Peace is serene, and Jurassic World conjures up images of dinosaurs and volcanos.

Everyone has a favorite, including the Leaping Frog.

Little Frog and the Bright Lights

Three years ago, the first Bright Nights story book was written about the deer who found his way to Bright Nights. In 2020, it was Diego the Dinosaur who was drawn to the lights.

This year, the story is about the leaping frog. He does not like the cold, but he likes the lights!

Each of the books come with a companion stuffed toy. This year, there are even tie-dyed shirts for kids and toddlers to match the one worn by the leaping frog.

Bright Nights $5 Off Coupon

Everyone who has purchased a full-priced ticket to Bright Nights at Forest Park can get $5 off their next purchase during the 2021 season. It is as easy as using the order number as the coupon code.

The $5 will be deducted from a general admission ticket to reduce the price to $18 plus the $1 ticket fee.

It is our way of saying thank you and hoping you will visit again or share the discount with a friend.

Looking Back at 2021

In 2021, World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast was cancelled in May, and it was held in August. The Spirit of Springfield Golf Classic was postponed, but it was held in July. Star Spangled Springfield was cancelled but within weeks, MassMutual and the Spirit of Springfield made it happen on July 4^th. It was another year of uncertainty, but another year closer to normalcy.

The City of Bright Nights Ball was held as planned. It was a spectacular evening under the cherry blossoms and with the support of Eastman. We held the Bright Nights 5K Road Race. Supper with Santa was back to a sell-out attendance, and the horse-drawn wagon and carriage rides at Bright Nights at Forest Park were quick to sell out.

The Spirit of Springfield is thankful and grateful for all who supported us in 2021. This includes the volunteers who flipped pancakes and the companies that donated products and services to the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast and Star Spangled Springfield, prizes to the Spirit of Springfield Golf Classic, and auction items to the City of Bright Nights Ball.

Thank you to all the sponsors and to everyone who has made Bright Nights at Forest Park a part of their 2021 holiday celebration.

In this Issue

Bright Nights Glowing Season

Little Frog and the

Bright Lights

Bright Nights $5 Off Coupon

Looking Back at 2021

Guest Column

Anthony Cignoli

A. L. Cignoli Company

Bright Nights

Discount Tickets

Guest Column

Anthony L. Cignoli, President, A. L. Cignoli Company

Persistence. Absolute, resolute, persistence against challenges that continued to cancel events across America. That’s what the Spirit of Springfield, their sponsors and supporters accomplished, yet again, in 2021.

From The World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast being held in August instead of May, to enthralling tens of thousands for the region’s most spectacular Star Spangled Springfield celebration of our nation’s birth, the indefatigable and indomitable Spirit found safe and new ways to keep our traditions alive.

On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Spirit of Springfield kept our annual remembrance of that day at the stunning monument erected on Springfield’s Riverfront. Some of the national figures who attended the dedication of the monument the year before, shared that the tribute was one of the finest held in America.

And now, Bright Nights at Forest Park is again a beacon of the season and hope for so many families, bringing record numbers of visitors to Springfield. Recognized nationally as one of our nation’s best holiday displays, Bright Nights is an event that we rely upon as a symbol of how our community, our people, comes together, no matter what.

The Spirit of Springfield has always found a way, against all odds, to make it all happen, for us. In this New Year, despite continued health and economic challenges, that special something, that indeed necessary extra spice of life, is something we can count on.