Las Vegas Weekly

December 1, 2008 · 12:59 PM

Holiday decorations are going up all over town

By Robin Leach

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

There are three major holiday attractions in our great city, and this year’s Magical Forest at Opportunity Village is nothing short of amazing. You have absolutely got to put it on your must-do list for the holiday season! Ride the carousel or the antique train or stroll through the maze of twinkling lights and Santa exhibits.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

It’s one of the largest Christmas display west of the Mississippi, and your donation helps support our beloved charity that serves folks with intellectual disabilities to improve the quality of their lives and their families. OV is the largest private provider of vocational training, employment, advocacy and recreation for people with disabilities in Nevada. More than 900 valuable people with severe disabilities are served every day.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

The Magical Forest is open nightly through Dec. 30 up on 6300 W. Oakey Blvd. between Rainbow and Jones. Several Strip headliners along with our Merry Mayor of Mirth, Oscar Goodman, and yours truly have read Christmas stories on videotape for a nonstop daily marathon of tales in the Story Tent! It’s wonderful to see almost every company in our valley represented as a sponsor of the marvelous holiday themes.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Next week our Sheriff Doug Gillespie will be locked up by the Snow Village Police Department in the jail there, and he’ll remain behind bars until enough money has been raised for Opportunity Village to “bail” him out!

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

The Gingerbread Village at the Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay features 20 gingerbread houses, plus a giant chocolate and sugar carousel. This year’s village includes a city hall, firehouse, police station, chapel and railroad depot -- and each individual structure can be purchased with 100 percent of the money donated to the Nevada Cancer Institute.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Our contributing photographer Tom Donoghue, who used to shoot the famed decorations at Hudson’s in Detroit when he lived there, took this extraordinary collection of images for us. Here are the fun facts: 420 pastry chef work hours, 37.5 engineering hours, 350 pounds of sugar, 180 pounds of flour, 90 pounds of chocolate, 360 eggs, 4 pounds of ground cinnamon, 1 pound of ginger spices, 40 pounds of almond paste, 4 pounds of salt, 160 pounds of honey, and, of course, a ton of love.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

When the atrium at the Bellagio finishes its Christmas display this week now that the fall celebration has been put to bed, Tom promises to return to capture that spectacular when it opens next Saturday. We’ll have that full, glorious photo report early next week.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

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