LENOIR, NC (December 01, 2017)…Staff at the Blue Ridge Memorial Park could use some help Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, lighting around 7,500 luminaries for the annual Luminary Display at the cemetery. Lighting will start around 4:30 pm, and the Luminary Display will start at 6:00 pm.
Cemetery Superintendent Terrance Banner said he and his staff – Elizabeth Woody, Nichole Davenport, Wendy Dellinger, and Pedro Perez – have been working the past couple of weeks to fill about 8,000 bags with sand and a candle. The crew has filled about 6,500 luminaries so far and will finish up the rest in the upcoming week.
Friday morning, Dec. 8, staff, along with help from the Lenoir Fire Department, will set out the luminaries, weather permitting. That takes about four hours by itself! Once the luminaries are in position, staff and volunteers go through and light all the candles, one by one. Banner said he could use all the help he could get.
“We can get them all lit in about an hour and half with 100 people,” said Terrence Banner, Cemetery Superintendent, Public Works Department. “People who want to volunteer to help light should come to the cemetery around 4:00 pm. We start lighting around 4:30 pm. We’ll provide the lighters and point folks in the right direction.”
The Luminary Display is very popular, and people drive from all over to visit the cemetery during the event.
“It’s something we do to honor the families, and it’s something the community really looks forward to” Banner said.
The rain date for the event is set for the following Friday, Dec. 15.
If people want to volunteer to help light the luminaries, go to the cemetery around 4:00 pm. Blue Ridge Memorial Park is located at 2017 Wilkesboro Boulevard NE, Lenoir, NC 28645.
Online at bit.ly/2kea3Fx.