This is the 16th year Capital Holiday Lights will not only entertain visitors from the Capital District and beyond, but pump funds into the Police Athletic League.
Other nonprofit groups stand to gain, too, since a few years ago, Capital Holiday Lights organizers decided to team up with other worthwhile causes around the region. This year, it hosted special “Walking the Lights Nights” that benefited the Wounded Warrior Project and the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, with a third one scheduled Jan. 5 to benefit local food pantries.
Retired Sgt. Lenny Ricchiuti, a Holiday Lights mainstay, said organizers liked that money would be going toward youths through PAL, animals through the Humane Society and veterans through Wounded Warrior, a group that aims to honor and empower men and women wounded serving in the military.
“It just seemed like a nice, well-rounded approach,” Ricchiuti said.
He likes to think that the charitable aspect is one of the reasons Holiday Lights has lasted as long as it has. Other lights displays in the area operated for only a few years, he said, but Capital Lights is as popular as ever.
Linda Kindlon’s commercial kitchen, Bake for You, overlooks Washington Park, so she sees the light display every day at work. Kindlon frequently creates new cookies, and her daughter works with a combat veteran who suggested she make a cookie in honor of veterans, with the proceeds benefiting the Wounded Warrior Program. With input from the veteran, Kindlon created a cookie she called MRE, a nod to military “meals, ready to eat.” The cookies contain peanut butter, honey roasted peanuts and M&Ms.
After learning about Kindlon’s cookies, PAL decided to include her in the walk nights. On the walk nights, when people were invited to enjoy the Holiday Lights on foot, the first 250 people were given a cookie from Bake for You.
Kindlon said that she feels lucky to be able to own her own business, and it’s important to give back. The Wounded Warrior Project resonated with her because she’s a mother.
“It was hard enough to send my kids to college,” she said. “I can’t imagine sending them to war.”
The walk nights called for monetary donations that were shared with the Wounded Warrior Project and the Humane Society. On regular nights, the admission cost $15 per car, $25 per limousine and $75 per bus benefits PAL, which Ricchiuti said serves some 3,000 kids. It offers field trips and summer camps, a variety of clubs, sports programs and leadership opportunities.
Bob Wolfgang, former owner of the Albany Aquaducks and a PAL board member, was the one who dreamed up the idea of a lights display to raise money for the organization. The venture never would have enjoyed the success it has without an incredibly dedicated volunteer base, Ricchiuti said. Setting up the lights requires roughly 9,000 hours, he said, with electricians and laborers who could earn as much as $18 to $30 an hour just donating their time.
Unlike many light displays, many of the components of Capital Holiday Lights change each year since PAL owns only about 60 percent of the show. The other 40 percent is leased, which helps keep people coming back, Ricchiuti said. He noted that the lights have grown into a holiday tradition for many families across the region, including his own. If his family didn’t go to the lights, his daughters, who are 20 and 23 and grew up visiting the park, would think something was wrong, he said.
“They’d say, what’s going on? Is everyone fighting?” he said with a laugh.
Capital Holiday Lights is not just a fun activity for families, it’s a cheap one, he said. Movies cost more than $10 a ticket per person, but a whole car full of people can enjoy the lights for just $15.
The lights display covers two miles in Albany’s Washington Park. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 6 to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. For more information, visit www.albanycapitalholidaylights.com.