A bright way to end the year: Light up Cooper City 2020

BY NINA RAMIREZ

From Thursday, December 3 to Saturday, December 5, Cooper City decided to continue its tradition of holding its annual Light Up Cooper City event. It was held at the Community Center and lasted from 6 to 9 p.m. each day. It was organized and maneuvered by city officials, along with the help of several teen council members.

After a structure was put in place, the event was arranged in a way that placed teen council members across different areas of the pathway in order to help guide those who attended. While some members were making sure citizens walked through the right direction, other members were trusted with handling a cookie tent, where they handed out individually packaged cookies from Publix.

“I thought it was very successful and a great substitute,” teen council member and CCHS freshman Julia Low said. “Children of all ages came out to see the beautiful lights and enjoy the overall event.”

This year, city workers decided to add a special addition by bringing in special guests dressed as characters loved by many. On Thursday, guests dressed as Mickey and Minnie Mouse arrived to greet everyone and take photos with children and their families. On Friday, a guest dressed as Elsa arrived and serenaded citizens by singing the songs “Let it Go” and “Into the Unknown” from Disney’s “Frozen” movies, while also taking photos afterwards. Lastly, Saturday introduced a guest dressed as the Grinch who came to the event and spent time taking pictures with guests. A group of Christmas carolers also visited the event every single day to step onto their platform and sing holiday-themed songs for all.

“I thought Light up Cooper City was fantastic this year.”

CCHS junior Emily Bruzgis

“I thought Light up Cooper City was fantastic this year,” CCHS junior Emily Bruzgis said. “I actually liked it better this year than the previous years. My favorite part was the carolers.”

The pathway was filled with several different kinds of decorations. A guest could not step foot without seeing at least one addition fit for the scene. Whether it was the giant inflatable reindeers and dragons along the sidewalks, the lollipops guiding citizens to a tunnel lit up with bright lights or the Christmas-themed stands for families to stand in front of and take photos with, every inch of the area was covered for the occasion. There was also a snow machine that spurted out balls of soap intended to look like snow for the people’s enjoyment.

Due to the pandemic, Light Up Cooper City had to make multiple changes in order to follow safety guidelines. This year, residents were asked to go to the city’s website and make a reservation beforehand so that coordinators can see the number of people participating each day.

“I thought the reservation list was effective,” teen council member and CCHS freshman Gabriella Ramirez said. “We got to successfully prepare when we saw the amount and everyone seemed to enjoy it.”

“We got to successfully prepare when we saw the amount and everyone seemed to enjoy it.”

Teen council member and CCHS freshman Gabriella Ramirez

The event was also noticeably smaller than previous years to prevent large amounts of people coming in close contact with each other. There were also multiple hand sanitizer stands on each pathway for guests to stay sanitized.

Overall, the tradition in Cooper City still stood and seemed to be enjoyed by all who came, since it was made for the enjoyment of all its guests for a holiday season during this peculiar year.

Photos by Nina Ramirez