The 56th annual neighborhood tradition will feature 1,200 candles
BY ANN CIPPERLY
FOR THE OBSERVER
Along sloping streets in the Collinwood neighborhood, more than 1,200 flickering candles will glow for the 56th annual luminaries from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 (or on the rain date, Saturday, Dec. 16).
The popular Opelika holiday tradition will highlight four scenes along the path with live animals. At the end of the path, a nativity scene resonates the message of Christmas, featuring the youth group from First Methodist Church of Opelika. Signs with scriptures will remain in the neighborhood during the month of December.
“The community is invited to drive through the luminaries as many times as they like to enjoy the scenes,” said Ruth Torbert, chairman of the event.
Admission is free.
Those driving through the path of candles will receive a program at the entrance with a QR code to scan with their phone camera that allows them to listen to the recording of the Bible’s Christmas Story from Luke 2:1-20.
“The neighborhood has always seen the luminaries as its gift to the community,” said Martha Hill, a Collinwood resident who has participated from the beginning, when the first candles were lit in 1967. “It makes Christmas special for children.”
Hill, who served as chairman several times over the years, said she feels the event keeps people of the neighborhood close. Torbert said she agrees.
“This annual event would be impossible without the support of all the neighbors assisting alongside me,” Torbert said. “It is a joy to see this Christmas tradition continue.”
Since 1982, Youth Pastor Rick Lane of First Methodist Church has worked with youth to provide live scenes for the nativity. Live animals are included in the nativity scene.
The neighborhood and its gift of the luminaries event has an interesting history woven with community leaders over the years.
The history of the Collinwood neighborhood began many years earlier when there was one house known as the Collins’ plantation. A fancy gate that opened and closed automatically for carriages once led the way to the Collins’ plantation, nestled on the edge of 160 wooded acres. At “Collins’ woods,” school teachers took children for picnics, Boy Scouts camped out and Shriners held barbecues.
Helen Collins remembered moving to the plantation as a child when her father, Robert Henry Collins, purchased the house built in the style of a New England country home by a man named Du Val. While no one knows the exact date, it is believed to have been constructed around 1881. A unique feature of the house is a coffin door that lifted up on the side of the house, which was the custom for New England homes at that time.
Helen remembered that the Shepherd family lived in the house before them. They would come back to the house to reminisce and tell stories. Helen said she had wonderful memories of growing up at the plantation.
When Collins’ woods was just country, the closest house was the McCall house, located across from the Church of Christ on Tenth Street. School teachers who boarded at the Collins’ home would leave their good shoes at the McCall house. It was a long walk to the school, Palmers’ Hall, the present site of Opelika City Hall.
Helen’s father was a farmer who also ran a trucking business. He married Maud Sanders, and they had four children. One of those children was T.S. (Frosty) Collins. Helen taught school and was a librarian at the junior high school.
While some people would not want to see their family homeland turned into a subdivision, Helen said she was pleased and named the neighborhood “Collinwood” when it began in 1950.
“I think we have some of the loveliest people in town living here,” she said.
In the beginning, parties were held in homes and everyone in the neighborhood would be invited. This tradition and friendliness led to the neighborhood offering the luminaries as a gift to the town.
Except for the Collins’ house and the tree where Boy Scouts carved their names, there are no other signs of Collins’ woods. Homemade gas lanterns and water tanks are long gone, and the fish pond is covered in ivy. Helen would still be proud of the neighborhood today, as the residents prepare to offer the tradition of their event to the community.
At the first Collinwood Luminaries, there we only a few houses on East Collinwood. In 1966, Mrs. J.R. Fuller of the Twilight Garden Club suggested the idea to the club after seeing luminaries in Europe. The holiday tradition of luminaries originated over 400 years ago in Mexico.
The following year, with 15 families in the neighborhood at the time, the residents undertook the project. Aileen Samford and Lucy Salter were instrumental in organizing the event. Salter received information on the details of luminaries from friends in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
During the first few years, the residents of East Collinwood used an assortment of bags and candles. After West Collinwood Circle and Colinwood Street were added to the subdivision, the event became more organized. Paper bags and candles were ordered to be consistent throughout the pathway.
The preparation in setting up the candles involves the entire family. Yards are raked and neatly groomed. Children in the neighborhood assist older residents.
A few days before the event, sand is delivered to several locations around the neighborhood. Three to four inches of sand is placed into a plastic bag, then into a paper bag, with the top folded down. More than 1,200 bags are placed evenly for uniformity.
City sanitation and power employees assist in getting ready for the event by cleaning streets and turning off street lights. The Collinwood tour is also supported by the Opelika mayor and city council, the Public Works Department of Opelika (ESG), Opelika Power Services, the Opelika Police Department and Boy Scout Troop 858.
The luminaries begin at Tenth Street and Collinwood Street. Motorists turn off headlights and use amber lights only as they slowly drive one way through the neighborhood.
