By Charles Hilty
December 7, 2011 - Seventy years ago this afternoon my life changed.......just as it changed dramatically for every American.
Every Pearl Harbor Day I recall where I was and how I heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I can remember places and faces and even the things that were said.
What is it with Christmas lights? Every year, they work fine all through Christmas and are still shining brightly when I take them down and store them away for the next year.
But 11 months later, I pull them out of storage, plug them in and...nothing. Absolutely nothing. No lights. Not a single one on the string.
Here's a touching holiday story that might someday rank right up there with Frosty the Snowman, It's a Wonderful Life and Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.
We suggest you sit back, grab a bag of popcorn, and maybe a handkerchief. Here's a Christmas story like no other, dreamed up and filmed in Bluffton.
We understand this is the third annual film of its type. For more details on this, ask the filmmaker.
Without further introduction we bring you this Christmas love affair...
Just as it was promised, the Blaze Ice Man was "Ultimate Cool."
New to this year's Blaze, ice sculptor Chad Hartson of Ice Creations, from Napoleon, was the lead act to one of the highest attended Blaze of Lights in the 25-year history of the event.
Hartson is one of America's leading sculptors with national and international recognition. Working with a block of ice 40 by 20 by 10 inches kept the attention of the crowd for 45 minutes as he created a toy soldier from his large ice cube.
Here are some photos and a short video of the artist at work.
Until GPS can direct you to all the lights in Bluffton a map will have to do.
The Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce provides those intersested in viewing Bluffton's wide range of Christmas holiday lights with a map to navigate the streets of town.
The printer-friendly copy, which is an attachment to this story, is your starting point to a great evening of cruising Bluffton.
The question is: Can I still be in the Blaze of Lights parade?
Of course, there is a deadline. That is 4 p.m., Saturday. Tha't when the line-up starts, this year along Snider Road (not The Centre parking lot). The parade starts at 5 p.m. Junior Weihrauch of Arlington, parade director and expert parade coordinator, says this could be the longest Blaze parade on record.
