At the south end of Coquitlam's Lafarge Lake, a magical winter wonderland is delighting visitors of all ages.
It's the third year the city has set up the light display, built by a team under parks manager Phil Hebner and a contracted crew under Ron Unger, who owns an illuminations business in Port Coquitlam.
In late October, the two groups started the project by stringing more than 30,000 LED lights around part of the lake trail and, across the street, at Spirit Square and Buchanan Square at city hall.
And, as in the past two years, they finished just in time - right before Mayor Richard Stewart and council flicked the switch at the Light the Hall ceremonies on Nov. 23.
"We seem to be always cutting it very close to the wire," joked Unger, who worked on the municipal light project with seven of his staff, custom designing many of the features and setting the controllers.
But, he added, "This is one of my favourite displays of the year. It's a good collaboration and, best of all, it's accessible and free to the public."
Hebner said he doesn't know how many hundreds of guests wander through the seasonal display at Lafarge every night (he wants to get a radar counter); but on a clear evening, it's likely more than a thousand, many of them with cameras in hand.
The sparkles at Lafarge begin at the Evergreen Cultural Centre parking lot, with the trees to the north decorated with white and coloured bulbs. The lights extend to a lake viewing fence before hitting the main attraction: the green and pink caterpillar, a rounded frame that sees many children and pets running through it.
The light show continues to a white garden complete with seven reindeer, then to a blue star archway that welcome guests to a forest scene - or, as Unger calls it, "Hobbit Village," with Tinkerbell floating above.
To the east is a simulated waterfall cascading from a hill and into the lake and, new for this year, a lighted boardwalk.
With a corporate donor or two, more could be done, such as the pier or the trees across from Douglas College, Hebner said.
Still, he's pleased with the results as well as the cost savings to taxpayers. With a bit of resource re-shuffling, the city managed to make this year's show more efficient than the previous two years; it also uses "minimal power consumption," Hebner said.
"The comments that city staff have received have been overwhelming positive," Hebner said. "People are very appreciative and happy with it."
The twin Lafarge Lake and city hall light exhibits are on daily from dusk to midnight until Jan. 13.
