Plaza Lights: A holiday tradition adjusted

On Nov. 26, the Country Club Plaza held their 91st annual holiday lighting ceremony — with updated safety guidelines such as no stage performers or large gatherings for the countdown due to COVID-19.

In years past, the lighting ceremony has been a celebration filled with stage performers, fireworks shooting off left and right, the chance of being chosen to flip the switch and the exhilarating wait for the countdown. This year’s lack of additional celebration led many families to stay home from the ceremony or watch it on TV.

East parent Jen Moore grew up in Kansas City and has attended the lighting ceremony her whole life, but decided to skip out on making the trip this year. 

“We usually go to my in-laws’ house that live on the Plaza to watch the lights, but this year with COVID we were scared to possibly infect them and thought it would be better to stay home,” Moore said. 

In past years, Moore remembers standing in a big crowd looking up at fireworks going off as the lights flickered on and everyone celebrating the start of the holiday season. This year, she knew her favorite memories couldn’t be recreated, so she decided to stay in and play games with her family instead. 

Freshman Liv Madden was also disappointed in the cancelation of the lighting ceremony this year. 

“The ceremony is always the best part of my Thanksgiving,” Madden said. “I love to watch the lights go on with my whole family.”

Instead of going to her cousin’s house to walk down to the ceremony this year, Madden watched the switch be flipped from her couch with her cat. 

“Honestly I think that the best part of the ceremony is the atmosphere, because just watching the lights go on [from home] was very depressing,” Madden said. 

Even with lack of holiday cheer, 2020 East graduate Maddy Slaughter attended the ceremony this year with her brother and a couple of friends. 

“It was kind of strange,” Slaughter said. “I expected there to be more strict rules and guidelines with COVID, but no one was really mandating anything.”

There were no stage performances or people gathered in large groups from what Slaughter could see. Instead, small clusters walked around as they waited for the lights to go on. 

“The lights honestly took me off guard — there was no announcement,” Slaughter said. “I was looking at my phone when all of a sudden I hear people cheering and they are just on.”

Slaughter felt that the lights this year were underwhelming. She was only there for 30 minutes and spent her time walking down a few streets before going home.

“I’d say the nicest part was probably the easy parking, in other years it would have taken like 30 minutes alone to park and we just pulled in,” Slaughter said. 

Moore is hopeful that by next November she can go back to her usual Thanksgiving tradition. 

“I remember when I was a little girl, coming over Wornall and going over the hill entering the plaza,” Moore said. “From the top of the hill you could see all of the lights shining from down below and it felt magical.”