Luminarias Light up the Holiday Season

For the 31st year, San Juan College will thank the community for its support through the year with the much-awaited Luminarias display, taking place this year on Saturday, December 5. This year’s display will emphasize design and quality rather than quantity of bags. A contest for design of the Learning Commons Plaza and the dirt parking lot near the West Classroom complex will highlight the artistic aspect of luminarias.

Visitors can begin enjoying the display of hand-lit and electric rooftop luminarias at dusk (6 p.m.). A beautiful array of bags will shine from rooftops, along sidewalks and in courtyards and select campus parking lots throughout the night.

This year the display will focus on quality and creativity, with number of bags limited to 30,000. As campus has grown larger, it has become more challenging to keep the display orderly and meaningful, with the increasing demands on volunteers and staff to prepare and set up.

Instead of large swaths of luminarias set in parking lots, emphasis will be on smaller exhibits and intimate settings. The Office of Student Activities held a design contest for two of the most visible parts of the display: for walkers in the new Learning Commons Plaza, which was completed in May, and for drivers in the parking lot adjacent to the West Classroom Complex (outside the office of the School of Humanities). Student groups, organizations and College departments competed for the opportunity to design the display in these spaces, with the winning group chosen based on best use of bags, creativity and ease of set-up.

The community can choose to drive or walk through; however, walkers can see much more of the display, while enjoying a serene stroll of the inner courtyards.

Only two entrances will be open during the event. Walkers may park in the Quality Center for Business or Child and Family Development Center lots, which are accessible by traveling south on College Boulevard from Pinon Hills Boulevard.

Drivers will enter the college from Butler Avenue traveling north to Sunrise Parkway. They will then follow the marked route through the campus and exit at College Boulevard, where traffic will be required to turn south to 30th Street. Please note that the Pinon Hills Boulevard entrance to the college will be closed during the Luminaria display. As a courtesy, all drivers are asked to turn their lights off as they drive through the display.

The Red Cross will add a touch of warmth to the evening by providing hot chocolate, while the sounds of Christmas will ring campus wide as San Juan College radio station KSJE 90.9-FM will broadcast holiday carols. Weather permitting, the Planetarium will host its annual Luminarias Star Gaze, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., in the inner courtyard. A telescope will be set up to view the night sky.

The Office of Student Activities coordinates the event with help from students, staff and community volunteers who help set up and light the candles. The week prior, hundreds of area school children help fill paper bags with sand and candles, which are then set out by College students and staff.