T. J. ROYAL
Though the cold, wet weather has tempered attendance a bit, Curtis Bearden says he is still satisfied with the donations received so far through his light show.
"Donations have been really good for the amount (of traffic) we've had," totaling $1,800, he said. Around 500 people came to the show's opening night on Dec. 5 even with a cold rain and blustery conditions that passed through. The show featured a fireworks display and a performance by Sara Dew and her band Dew Point Rising, in which Bearden plays drums.
The proceeds for this year's light show, which has been held since 2002, will go to two girls and their families, 14-year-old Kiarra Whitehead of Nashville and three-year-old Macy Batchelor of Rocky Mount.
Whitehead, who goes to Red Oak Elementary School, has been diagnosed with brain lesions, and must get check-ups at Duke Medical Center in Durham on a weekly basis. Batchelor was born with Level 2 Spinal Bifida, and is paralyzed from the waist down. Bearden added that Batchelor recently had a shunt implanted into her head, to relieve pressure from swelling that has taken place around her brain.
Though the recent weather affected attendance that night, with Bearden saying that "we were anticipating a thousand people" to come out, it has also affected the light show itself.
He said since the opening night, "water filled up everywhere" within the light show procession, leaving many of the electrical plug-ins underwater. "We had to go add some drainage (to route) into the pond" and cut off the lights one night last week, Bearden added, the only such night the weather forced him to cut them off. Last year, the lights were cut off in memory of 19-year-old Thomas Parrisher, who was last year's recipient.
Bearden added that David Carraway of Falkland also provided two tons of sand to cover the light show's pathway and parking lot, so vehicles would not get stuck and muddied up from the recent wet weather.
A flyover, by Kurt Rupke of Genesis Air of Greenville, will provide aerial video footage of the light show, Bearden said, which will eventually go up on his Web site for the light show, www.autumnslights.com, named after his daughter.
Another financial sponsor, the Wolf Den Tavern on Main Street in Tarboro, also came aboard to help this year with the light show, he added.
Already planning for next year, Bearden said that "as long as the community stays involved and donating, we'll keep it going" with his light show.
The light show is at Sir Dillon's Lane, off of N.C. 33, around three miles south of Tarboro.
