Winterhaven Pictures

 
   
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  About Winterhaven
   

Winterhaven Public Events is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to raise and distribute funds to charities such as the Community Food Bank.  Dollars are raised primarily through two events:  The Festival of Lights and the 4th of July Parade. The 2007 Festival brought in over 22,000 pounds of food and $22,000 to the Food Bank.

Through a partnership with Tucson Electric Power (TEP), The 2008 Festival of Lights has gone green!  Last year Winterhaven replaced 300 strands of traditional bulbs with new energy-efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.  The new 0.1-watt lights require much less energy than the old 7-watt bulbs, reducing energy consumption by more than 98 percent. In addition to reducing Winterhaven’s electric bills during the festival, the upgrade will avert the need for energy production that would release more than 30,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere

This year celebrates the 58th anniversary of the Winterhaven Festival of Lights! The Winterhaven neighborhood, located in central Tucson, welcomes thousands of visitors every year for two magical weeks in December.  Visitors to the Festival will see Winterhaven's majestic trees decorated in dazzling lights and will enjoy seeing wonderful decorations and lights on Winterhaven homes.  Many people will walk the streets of Winterhaven to enjoy the sights, but visitors may also take a haywagon carriage or trolley through the neighborhood.  Cars and buses are allowed on certain nights.

Thanks to TEP, this year's Festival will sparkle with brilliant color using significantly less energy and releasing much less carbon dioxide into the air. For more information on saving energy with LED lights, visit the new LED holiday light calculator online at www.tep.com.

   
  Winterhaven History
    Over 50 years of History
CB Richards was the founding father of Winterhaven Water & Development Company. In 1949 he created a cooperative water company and a modern residential development north of what was Tucson at the time.   By 1957 all but 19 of the 257 original lots had been developed.  The Festival of Lights began in 1949. CB Richards was inspired to create the Festival after visiting a similar display in Beverly Hills, California in the 1930s.  He purchased the first set of Christmas lights in 1949 and donated them to the neighborhood. He purchased the Aleppo pines from a local nursery that was going out of business. They were planted at regular intervals throughout the neighborhood and electrical connections were hooked up near each tree for the lights.

CB personally judged all the displays in those first festival contests and the winner was awarded $100.00.   After CB Richards moved to San Diego, he continued to visit Winterhaven for the Festival of Lights. 

The Festival has been held continuously since 1949 except for one year during the 1970's energy crisis when the residents of Winterhaven voted to stay dark


           
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