News release from Shine & Hardin, LLP:
Enhanced fireworks display to be featured at 11th annual “Christmas on Broadway” tree lighting
Frontier Communications co-sponsorship will help light up the sky on Friday, November 20, 2015
21Alive New Home for “Christmas on Broadway”
Prairie Farms to join as corporate sponsor with Frontier Communications, Lake City Bank, St. Joseph Hospital (Lutheran Health Network), 21Alive, SoftRock 103.9 and Shine & Hardin, LLP In Welcoming Forty-Foot Blue Spruce to the Broadway Plaza
(October 3, 2015) – The 11th annual “Christmas on Broadway” tree lighting and contemporaneous fireworks display will be held this year on Friday, November 20, 2015, at 5:45 p.m. in front of the Shine & Hardin building on the Broadway Plaza. This year’s tree, donated by local culinary artist Laura Wilson, owner of La Dolce Vita in Roanoke, will be decorated with over 25,000 lights and will be illuminated shortly after 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20, 2015. The Christmas tree lighting and fireworks will be telecast live on 21Alive, WPTA-TV. Last year, a crowd of 2,000 people were estimated to have attended the event.
This year’s enhanced fireworks display, brought back by popular demand following last year’s first time spectacle, is made possible again by Frontier Communications, one of the four corporate sponsors of the annual event, which also includes Lake City Bank, St. Joseph Hospital (Lutheran Health Network) and the newest addition to these community spirited companies, Prairie Farms Dairy. Greg Stephens, President of Frontier Midwest Division, stated that Frontier has become a sponsor of this holiday tradition because it demonstrates the importance that Frontier places on strengthening our neighborhoods. “The communities we serve are the reason for everything we do. Christmas on Broadway is the kind of event that unites people around a sense of community. We are honored to once again be a part of bringing neighbors and families together at this special time of year,” said Stephens.
WPTA-TV, 21Alive President and General Manager Don Osika stated that in furthering 21Alive’s commitment to the community and its belief in maintaining strong neighborhoods, 21Alive is proud to be the new home of “Christmas on Broadway,” which will include the live telecast of the tree lighting and fireworks display during 21Alive’s 6:00 p.m. newscast on Friday, November 20, 2015. “Seven historic neighborhoods boarder the Broadway Corridor and it is 21Alive’s desire to spotlight this celebration, the focus of which, in part, will be upon the strength of the families and residents of these neighborhoods that help make this event so special,” Osika said.
Preparation for the event began early this spring when Steve Shine, the event’s coordinator and partner in Shine & Hardin, LLP, whose offices are located on the Broadway Plaza where the tree is located, reviewed the multitude of offers from area residents to donate their trees for use as this year’s “Christmas on Broadway” tree. A final selection of the tree was made soon thereafter, with the tree donated by Laura Wilson topping the list. “This year’s tree is a magnificent forty-foot spruce, whose commanding presence will be adorned by 25,000 glittering lights,” said Shine. “It will be a festive holiday sight for all of Fort Wayne to see.”
The fireworks display will be coordinated by Matt Loraine of Melrose Pyrotechnics, the company that also produces the fireworks displays for the Tin Caps, the Three Rivers Festival, and the City of Fort Wayne’s Fourth of July event. “Last year’s fireworks display was awesome,” said Loraine. “This year, thanks to the generosity of Frontier Communications, the fireworks display will be even more spectacular. The blend of 25,000 Christmas tree lights and a robust fireworks display can’t be beat for a visual delight.”
The tree will be delivered to the Broadway Plaza by Mudrack Tree Service and will be placed upon the tree stand by crews from Michael Kinder & Sons Contractors and Harold McComb & Son Construction, on Friday, November 13th. The arrival will be telecast live on 21Alive beginning at 5:00 a.m. the morning of November 13th, and will also be broadcast live on SoftRock 103.9. Crews from Custom Control and Machine and A Yard Apart will furnish electricity and decorate the tree throughout the week that follows. Vision Scapes will prepare the plaza for the anticipated large crowd coming to view both the tree lighting and fireworks that will occur on Friday, November 20th soon after 6:00 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be present with eggnog and hot chocolate from Prairie Farms Dairy, cookies from Ellison Bakery and Santa hats for the children. A live reindeer, the Polar Express train ride and holiday music will also be featured.
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