A Bermuda shorts-wearing Santa Claus and a life-size John Wayne riding into a twinkling Western town may not be traditional holiday images, but they are among the unusual sights in the fourth annual Girl Scouts of Suffolk County Winter Wonderland holiday light show at Camp Edey in Bayport.
With similar whimsical touches also featured in holiday light exhibits in Holtsville and Glen Cove, if your family was feeling a bit let down by the cancellation of the Jones Beach Holiday Light Spectacular, there's no need to tell the kids to wait until next year. Filling what otherwise would have been a void in sugar-plummy visions done up in colored lights, all three shows feature juiced-up exhibits to make sure no one from the littlest toddler to the adult driving the car will be disappointed. The shows also offer amenities such as gift shops, refreshments, and recorded and live seasonal music to get everyone in a holiday mood.
In one attempt at outdoing Jones Beach, most of the displays in the Girl Scout show, including "the Duke," are original creations cooked up by Girl Scout property manager Eric Reed's eight-person staff. They assembled about 25 tableaus from colored bulbs, four miles of extension cords, statuary and animatronics. Set into a woodlands area along a paved fire road, the show also includes a salute to the troops and two light tunnels that dazzle with a 3D kaleidoscope effect (3D glasses are provided free at the gate).
"It's different from Jones Beach in that there's more depth to the displays because we have the woods to work in," says Christine Terzella, Girl Scouts communications manager.
Ice-skating penguins and a skiing bear who lands on his head are among the fanciful creations in the Town of Brookhaven's BriteNites, a 1.2-mile drive-through extravaganza set up on the jogging track at the Holtsville Ecology Center in Holtsville.
"The adults get as much of a kick out of watching the kids [react] as they do seeing the exhibits," says John Rouse, superintendent of high- ways for the Town of Brookhaven.
Meanwhile, in Nassau, the Glen Cove Waterfront Wonderland of Lights fills the city Esplanade on Hempstead Harbor with such quirky holiday sights as Rudolph doing the hula around a bonfire.
The multicolored Glen Cove light displays, which tower up to 30 feet, also include tableaus of the 12 Days of Christmas, a nativity scene, a Kwanzaa can- delabrum, a menorah and the Spanish greeting, "Feliz Navi- dad," or "Merry Christmas."
"It's a walk through about a half a mile on the waterfront, there are rides for little kids, and it's free for children under 12," notes Victoria Crosby, president of the Glen Cove Arts Council, which is presenting the walk-through show for the first time this year.
WHEN&WHERE
Drive-through
Brookhaven BriteNites, Holtsville Ecology Center, 249 Buckley Rd., Holtsville. Ongoing through Dec. 31 (closed Dec. 24 and 25), 5:30-9:30 p.m., 631-758-9664; brookhaven.org , $12 per car.
Girl Scouts of Suffolk County Winter Wonderland Holiday Light Show, Camp Edey, Bayport (entrance at end of Lakeview Avenue). Ongoing through Dec. 23, Sunday-Thursday, dusk-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday, dusk-10 p.m; 631-472-1625; holidaylightshow.org. $12 per car.
Walk-through
Glen Cove Waterfront Wonderland of Lights, Garvies Point Road, Glen Cove. Ongoing through Dec. 30, Wednesday-Sunday, 5:30-9:30 p.m. 516-674-3513; glencoveartscouncil.org. $10 per adult, $8 seniors (65 and up), free for children 12 and younger.
