27 Miles of GardenFest Lights; Learning About and From the Past;The Windsor Farms Jet Crash and Saving A Baby; Sporting Game Changer; Methodical Master Plan.

RVA 5x5, December 11, 2023

No algorithms. No content filters. Honest and insightful analysis.
You can find the 5 main stories from Friday’s edition here, and today features the “ALT 5” stories for a nice, leisurely, read. Enjoy!

This week check out our five stories on:

• The top holiday garden lights tour in the country is right here in RVA. Check out Lewis Ginter’s amazing display!

• A quote from historian extraordinaire Ed Ayers about how it can be helpful to look at current events through a historical lens.

• A story about a Navy jet that crashed in Windsor Farms (huh?) and the man who rushed into the burning house to save a baby.

• Henrico shows what good and smart economic and tourism development can do for the county and the region.

• The completion of a local non-profit’s master plan with an important mission.
  

THE ALT 5

ALT #1 — OFF THE BEATEN PATH: 27 Miles of Lights
USA Today ranked the 10 Best botanical gardens with holiday lights and our own Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights took the top prize after finishing in second place the last two years!

Brian Trader, the Garden's president and CEO said, "It’s an honor to be consistently recognized with such well-respected gardens around the country."

The display this year features more than a million lights, 115 wrapped trees in the display and 27 miles of light strands. The Darlington Oak, one of the biggest trees in the display, took 50 hours to complete, with 187 strands, 9,350 bulbs and one mile of lights that took two tree climbers four days to string. Over 250 volunteers helped prepare for the display and logged over 8,945 hours over the course of three months.

Photo: Nicolas Galindo, Times-Dispatch