Pallet #5

Throughout December, folks brought offerings of canned goods for Greensboro Urban Ministry's Food Bank to drop-off locations in Sunset Hills (and Historic Aycock). Through December 27th, three trailer loads totalling 2,557 pounds of canned goods had been collected and taken to Urban Ministry. More keeps coming, too.

Two boxes, one marked "Joy" and the other (shown above) "Love" stood out. Nightly, neighbors emptied the food collection bins. Lots and lots of small bags holding a few cans told us that it wasn't 10 persons each bringing 255 pounds who filled the bins, but rather it was many, many folks bringing their five loaves and two fishes.

Pat Spain, Food Distribution Director for Greensboro Urban Ministry, thanks the Friends of Lighted Christmas Balls for keeping the needy at heart. Supplying food for the needy, the elderly, little children and those down on their luck would not be possible without the support of so many in this community.

Truly, in this life, we get to keep what we give away. Thank you Greensboro for giving.

Give a can

photo: alisa smith

Alisa Smith shares awesome pics of 2007 Lighted Christmas Balls. No doubt the spread of Krispy Kreme donuts made viewing Lighted Christmas Balls far more fun! Click here and check out the beautiful pics. Kudus, Alisa

Lighted Christmas Balls in Dearborn, Michigan!

Lighted Christmas Ball enthusiast and kindred spirit Traci Stafford Croft hosted a Christmas Ball workshop in their neighborhood...

"Not quite the same scale of yours (we're just getting started), but we can see the potential for growth within our neighborhood - MANY neighbors from other streets came/are coming by asking questions even though not all of the neighbors who made light balls have them lit yet...so we expect the rest of our stree to light up over the next couple days. (jonathan's note, check out Traci's pictures on Flickr. Better yet, drive down their street and see for yourself )

This is such a wonderful thing to do with friends/neighbors. Next year we'll start adding in some of the other elements: charity collections/donations, band, etc. (We'll see...) We were planning on being outside, but the weather was supposed to be in the low 40s, so we did it inside (and the weather was nearly 60). :)

Thanks,
Traci"

exciting update, from Traci, 12/28/2008:

"Since I sent you the pictures, we've had quite a lot of excitement...probably 40 - 50 cars a night driving down the street (we're only a 1 block street not off of any main road, so traffic is really rare) and we've also been contacted by our "City Beautiful Commission" and the local city cable channel. Our kids gave light balls as presents to their teachers who immediately asked..."Is that YOUR street?" It's been so wonderful. I can only hope that we can generate more interest and some good will in years to come. ;)"

Kudos Traci!

Timberoak Court lights up New Garden Road

Lighted Christmas Balls light up Timberoak Court. Kudos Jim and Sue for growing the glow!

Watch me Daddy!

Miles nocks an arrow, takes aim, pulls the string, and says, "hold on Daddy, this one's going high."

Daddy and daughter decide where the next one's going

Daniel and Izzy discuss where the next one's going while Miles looks for his arrow. Marlee and cousin (background) see how high they can swing before Aunt Dayna freaks.

What a sight!

Last weekend we got on the ball (the lighted variety) to try to get lights up in the trees in time for the luminary display in Aycock.


So warm and sunny, I had to wear my sunglasses, t-shirt, and flip-flops.


We got 12 up in the trees and there are another 5 or 6 dozen on Percy.

Lighted Balls in the News

Jon wouldn't tell anyone about this, but . . . .



There was a great piece on the news last night about the lighted balls; CLICK HERE to see it.

Lighted Christmas Balls In Aycock

We (Millie and Justin Smith) threw our 2nd annual ball making party last weekend.

What a blast! We made 72 lighted balls and a good time was had by all - that's about 200 in two years!








Millie and Justin rest their matching socked feet.

Northern Shores grows the glow

Greensboro Day student Jameson Midgett documents the glow on his street in Northern Shores. Great pictures, Jameson, keep them coming. (If you click Northern Shores) Google makes map to your street from anywhere in the world!

Neighbors help neighbors

Sunset Hills Neighbors,

Collecting 527 pounds of canned food and $735 to Urban Ministry at the 5th Annual Lighted Christmas Ball Workshop was a beautiful thing... Their thank you letter is hard to see, but if you look closely you can see its addressed to Sunset Hills Lighted Christmas Balls Workshop.

Last night we hauled all the balls out of the attic and to the living room. We repaired balls and replaced burned out strings(not many this year!) This is Anne with the ones which didn't need any repairs. Saturday looks like an excellent day for hoisting them into the sky.