Spirit of Christmas flickers in northwest Denver neighborhood

By Rebecca Jones
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Everyone else in the city may plug in their luminarias this year, but in the Harkness Heights neighborhood in northwest Denver, these traditional holiday lights are still done the old-fashioned way.

"We do them with sand and candles," says neighborhood association president Reed Weimer.

About 10 percent of the roughly 500 homes in the neighborhood — bounded by Federal Boulevard on the east, Lowell Boulevard on the west, 44th Avenue on the north and 41st Avenue on the south — participate in the annual display.

CREATING YOUR OWN GLOW Take a white bag and fold down the top about 3 inches to give the bag stability. Pour about 4 inches of sand into each bag. Put the candle in the center of the sand, making certain it is upright and straight. Place the bags about 4 feet apart for best display. Cat litter or soil may be used in place of sand. Fireplace matches or barbecue grill lighters are helpful in lighting the candle.

Luminarias are especially popular in New Mexico. The tradition appears to date to 17th century Spain, according to the Marlin Candle Co., a New Jersey company that specializes in making fireproof luminaria bags and candles. In some versions of the story, a young girl, worried that her soldier father would not find his way home from the war, lit candles and placed them in bags to protect them from the wind, lining the path to their home. Other versions suggest luminarias symbolically light the way to Bethlehem either for Mary and Joseph or for the Magi.

Luminarias are sometimes referred to as farolitos, "fairy lights," because of the way the light from the candle flame gently illumines the night. Traditional luminaria bags often have designs cut into them, the better for the candlelight to dance through.

Nowadays, more and more people are switching to plastic bags and electric lights, which everyone agrees are vastly more convenient and probably safer, given the proximity of candle flame to paper bag in the traditional luminarias.

Even the merchants along South Santa Fe Boulevard, which traditionally hosts a 'luminaria walk" each Christmas, have switched to plastic bags and electric lights.

But Harkness Heights residents won't switch. Weimer says he can never recall any luminaria catching fire in the neighborhood, and the very act of making, distributing and displaying their handmade luminarias builds a sense of real community among neighbors. "It unifies households," he says. "It helps people get together and know their neighbors."

The neighborhood tradition began about 10 years ago, Weimer says. "It began for a number of reasons," he says. "No. 1, it was a recognition of the Hispanic culture in this neighborhood, and also because of the beauty of them. But we also did it as a fund-raiser. We distribute flier to everyone in the neighborhood, people place their orders and the neighborhood association assembles and delivers them."

Neighbors could order six of the sand-filled bags, complete with tea candles, for $3, 10 for $5 or 20 for $10.

Neighborhood leaders got together last weekend to make nearly 900 of the luminarias. They had quite a production line going: Open the paper bag, put in a scoop of sand, put in a tea candle, close the bag, stack. Proceeds this year will go to help an elderly neighbor who is having financial troubles.

On Thursday evening, the luminarias were lit for the first time, and groups of neighbors strolled from home to home caroling and gnoshing on hot cider and cookies. "Officially, that's the night we light them, but most of us replenish the candles and keep them going through New Year's," Weimer says.

December 23, 2000