"It's possible I was in attendance that very same year: my father, a street racer in his youth, was certainly aware of PIR and my mother had always been a Christmas lights enthusiast, trucking us from neighborhood to brightly-lit neighborhood. I'm not certain, but I do have distinct childhood memories of slowly circling that track, watching the festive lights go by."
"In any case, families throughout the metro area have been attending PIR's Winter Wonderland for 33 years now, and-hey, if you're looking to submerge yourself in the cozy arms of velvety Christmas cheer, it's here again in 2025, and will probably continue next year and the next, forever and ever until the end of electricity as a commodity (or the heat death of the universe, whichever comes first)."
"At Winter Wonderland, PIR is lined with no less than 250 light displays, containing more than a million bulbs. Some people occasionally claim it's the largest light display west of the Mississippi River. I don't know if this fact is confirmable, but it certainly rolls off the tongue and flatters the holiday spirit of the community, so I'm willing to go along with it."
"Around ten years ago, Sunshine Division, an 102-year-old Portland Police Bureau-linked food assistance charity, used a grant from the Murdock Trust to buy the show from an events consortium, and set off on the slow and tedious task of replacing every tungsten light in the display with longer lasting, more energy efficient LED bulbs. Winter Wonderland is now Sunshine Division's largest fundraiser of the year by a considerable distance."
Portland International Raceway launched a drive-through Christmas light display in 1993, turning the racing venue into a seasonal attraction. The event features at least 250 displays and over a million bulbs and has run for 33 years, returning in 2025. Sunshine Division, a 102-year-old police-linked food assistance charity, purchased the show about ten years ago and used a Murdock Trust grant to replace tungsten bulbs with energy-efficient LEDs. Winter Wonderland is now Sunshine Division's largest annual fundraiser. Displays include original and newer installations, and many metro-area families attend each season.
#holiday-light-display #portland-international-raceway #sunshine-division #charity-fundraiser #led-conversion
Read at Portland Mercury
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