In the mid-1990s, Bob Wolfgang had an idea for a new way to use Albany’s Washington Park.
At the time, Wolfgang worked with the Albany Police Department. He and the Police Athletic League took his idea to Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings: How about holding a holiday light show in the park?
Jennings embraced the idea, and Capital Holiday Lights was born.
The thought was it would be a major holiday attraction, said Lenny Ricchiuti, PAL’s executive director.
It’s probably fair to say that vision has been realized. The show is now in its 12th year. Billed as a `drive-through spectacular,` it incorporates more than 125 lighted holiday displays throughout Washington Park. It draws more than 100,000 visitors a year from all over the region — and even all over the country.
`We saw 13 different license plates last year,` Ricchiuti said. There were cars from both Florida and Alaska, he said. Closer to home, an informal survey of visitors found people had come from Buffalo, Long Island and all points in between.
Lots of people come back to the lights display every year, and with good reason. The show is never the same from one year to the next. Ricchiuti believes that’s one of the keys to its success. Around 2000, another group started a holiday light show in the region, he said. The next year, it featured all of the same displays.
That was about the end of that, Ricchiuti said.
To keep things fresh at Capital Holiday Lights, organizers decided at the outset not to buy the majority of displays they use. Instead, they leased them. That gives them flexibility to showcase new displays each year.
`With our show, it’s at least 70 — and closer to 80 — percent new,` Ricchiuti said. `We just keep trying to reinvent it each year.`
This year, for example, the show has four new theme areas: Santa’s Safari, Santa’s Toy Land, Home for the Holidays and the Victorian Village. The safari includes giraffes, elephants and monkeys, with Santa riding in a Jeep filled with animals.
The lights aren’t the only attraction at the park. Each year, the lakehouse at the end of the route is open, offering visits with Santa, refreshments and gifts. New this year are rides for kids, and children can also keep busy trying to count all the animals in the safari display, submitting their answers for a chance to win a prize.
`Lenny goes out of his way to make sure there’s new things,` said Maureen Lundberg, co-owner of Albany AquaDucks.
Lundberg’s fellow owner is Bob Wolfgang, the man behind the idea for Capital Holiday Lights. These days, he said, he’s not quite as involved with the project because the AquaDucks keep him busy, but he has found a way to merge the two endeavors. The AquaDucks offer trolley rides through the lights, sometimes pairing with area restaurants to offer a dinner and Capital Holiday Lights package. There is also an option to add a show at Capital Repertory Theater.
`It gives everybody a whole nice evening that’s full of holiday charm,` Lundberg said.
While the AquaDucks offer regularly scheduled trips through the lights display, Lundberg noted that groups can also make a trolley reservation on their own. She said that seeing the lights from a trolley is a unique experience she highly recommends.
`I went 10 times last year,` she said with a laugh.
For information, visit www.albanyaquaducks.com or call 434-0405.
Capital Holiday Lights is open Sundays through Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 6 to 10 p.m. until Jan. 3. Admission prices are $15 per car; $25 per limousine or 15-passenger van, and $75 per bus, with all proceeds benefiting the youth programming of Albany PAL. Discount coupons for $5 off admission on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are available at Hannaford stores.“