Christmas in the Park is Saved
Photo Credit: Kevin Ishikawa
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Kevin Ishikawa
December 14, 2011
Filed under News
Christmas in the Park is a tradition in San Jose that has occurred for the past 32 years. It is located in Caesar Chavez Park in downtown San Jose next to the Tech Museum. Thousands of people attend every year to eat good food ice skate, ride the rides, and most importantly to marvel at all of the many Christmas decorations.
Back in 2010, it was speculated that Christmas in the Park 2011 was not going to take place. San Jose has been experiencing budget cuts across the board and Christmas in the Park was no exception. Due to lack of funds, the city of San Jose was going to cut Christmas in the Park altogether. Thankfully, several good-hearted citizens banded together and emptied their wallets in order for this annual tradition to continue.
Earlier this year, Christmas in the Park launched a “Keep the Lights Burning” campaign. The committee for the “Keep the Lights Burning” campaign were all volunteers. They tried to raise money by gathering donations from people who wanted Christmas in the Park but the donations were nowhere near the $200,00 needed to cover the costs.
Senior Edward Lee said, “If Christmas in the Park was cancelled, a little bit of my childhood would have died. Senior Richard Dao said, “Without Christmas in the Park, I would be a husk of my former self.” These statements may sound a little extreme but the same sentiment was felt by many people in the San Jose area. Many also speculate that if Christmas in the Park was cancelled it would cause a domino effect which would affect the Winter Wonderland Carnival and the Ice skating rink.
Several councilmen came together to raise money for Christmas in the Park and they enlisted the help of San Jose mayor Chuck Reed and Carl Guardino who is the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. They put together a breakfast in May to raise money from corporate leaders. SunPower, PG&E, Virgin America, the 49ers, Barry Swenson Builder, and Pricewaterhousecoopers all attended and doled out generous amounts of cash. Mayor Reed pitched in an additional $100,000 which he justified by using funds from the environmental service department because Christmas in the Park was deemed a “green event.” There was also a fundraising event at the Circle of Palms. All in all, $255,000 was raised for Christmas in the Park.
Christmas in the Park was very close to being cancelled this year but thankfully, it lived to see the Christmas spirit of 2011. Next year, without proper funding, Christmas in the Park will simply not take place. Board members have said that they will try to keep admission free, but at the rate things are going Christmas in the park may have admission at the door. What is important, is that Christmas in the Park made it this far, so maybe citizens and corporations of San Jose will be able to maintain this trend until the economy is in a better place in the future.