Bright lights for a good cause at The Broadmoor

With a 10-count and a booming cry of "Happy Christmas," the sweeping grounds of The Broadmoor went up in lights Saturday night during the Colorado Springs resort's 90th anniversary celebration.

A crowd in the hundreds watched as more than 250,000 strands of lights were lit at the annual White Lights Ceremony, a holiday-themed celebration that serves double-duty as a benefit for the American Cancer Society of Southern Colorado.

"It's absolutely beautiful - just the whole atmosphere is very welcoming and warm and cordial," said Virginia Howard of Tulsa, Okla., who came to the five-star resort for a luxurious Thanksgiving with her husband and their son's family.

The celebration featured ice sculptures, a display of elaborate gingerbread houses, including a clock tower, country church and a haunted house, and music by the Ken Miller Band, Lila Mori and Jim Salestrom.

At the lighting ceremony, Santa and Mrs. Claus called on children in the crowd to unleash "the warmth in their hearts" before sending the signal to hit the lights.

With a wave of Santa's candy cane, the trees and hedgerows surrounding Cheyenne Lake grew bright. Cameras flashed and the crowd roared as the lake - dark at the center of the gathering - suddenly shimmered.

Afterward, children filtered into Broadmoor West to seek an audience with Santa.

They joined a line snaking through the hotel corridors, where a juggler, a singer and a troupe of bespangled ballet dancers tried to keep spirits high during the half-hour wait.

Was all the trouble worth it?

Alexia and Adrianna Vasquez seemed to think so.

The 4-year-old twins from Golden clammed up just as their parents introduced them to Santa, but they smiled brightly at the stranger and managed to whisper one Christmas request each - one girl asked for a vanity, the other for a "pink ducky."

"It doesn't look like they're too into talking right now," their father, John Vasquez, said with a smile as his wife, Christina, snapped photos of the girls on Santa's lap. "They'll chatter away when they're at home, though."

Gerry Tilghman of Bryn Mawr, Penn., praised the Broadmoor for hosting such a lavish community affair.

She stood in a lobby and looked over the diverse crowd while waiting for her son and granddaughter to come in from the cold.

"If you're an artist you would love it here," she said.

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contact the writer: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com