Opportunity Village’s Magical Forest lights up holidays for 19th season

By Kyle B. Hansen

Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

It wasn’t the bright lights of the Strip attracting celebrities Saturday night; it was the Christmas lights just a few miles away.

Some celebrities and about 200 others were on hand Saturday night to open Opportunity Village’s Magical Forest at the charity’s campus at 6300 Oakey Blvd., between Torrey Pines Drive and Jones Boulevard.

But most of the crowd, at least the ones shorter than 4 feet, lost interest in the celebrities, including Wayne Newton and Chris Philips of Zowie Bowie, once they sang “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and the big man himself appeared.

Not even Santa, however, got the attention that the lights received.

“The trees, they’re beautiful,” said Rose Llamas. “I would have thought it would be a lot smaller than this.”

“When they see the lights, the kids’ faces light up,” said Cherubin Sumaway.

“You look at it through their eyes.”

Sumaway said she could see the reaction on her son’s face, even though he is just 6 months old and won’t remember being there.

This is their first Christmas in Las Vegas after moving here from Ohio, Sumaway said.

“We heard about the Magical Forest and how great it was, so we wanted to see it,” she said.

The Christmas attraction is open for the 19th year from now until New Year’s Day, opening daily at 5:30 p.m. and closing at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The forest brought a similar reaction to Britney Silk’s two sons, who are 2 and 3. “They were all talk and smile and giggles,” she said.

Lazetta Lyons brought her 12-year-old daughter and a friend to the forest.

“I haven’t been here in like 10 years,” she said. “It’s been a long time, so I wanted to bring my daughter and her friend to experience it.”

But she was surprised with her feelings as she walked into the forest.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I felt overwhelmed, when I came in, with joy. It brought tears to my eyes.”

The Magical Forest is the largest fundraiser of the year for Opportunity Village, a nonprofit group that provides services for people with intellectual disabilities.

The funds raised from admission — $9.75 for adults and $7.75 for children — in addition to ticket sales for the rides at the event, go toward supporting the organization’s programs.

“With the state having the budget issues it has right now, it’s especially important for us to have the money raised from this event to be able to subsidize those services,” Executive Director Ed Guthrie said.