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CW Journal
: Christmas 04 : Grand Illumination
Fireworks illuminate the Governor's Palace.
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the front of the Palace is ready to blow.
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photography by Dave Doody
Colonial Williamsburg's
Christmas season officially
begins with Grand Illumination, a spectacular
evening when candles twinkle in the windows of Historic Area homes and
buildings, fatwood crackles in street-side cressets, and the heavens explode
with pyrotechnics. Thousands of guests turn out—families, friends, and
strangers crowding the streets—to "oh" and "ah" and launch themselves on the
Yuletide.
Dave Doody, manager of
photo services in the Productions, Publications, and Learning Ventures
division, has in his long Colonial Williamsburg career spent many a chilly
Grand Illumination night on the restored city's greens and streets, draped in
cameras and lenses, jostling with the crowds, capturing images of the show. As
dramatic as the display itself, Doody's photographs, streaked with colored fire
and peppered with sky-dyed starbursts, have appeared in publications around the
world.
Last Grand
Illumination he elected to come early to have a look behind the scenes at the
fireworks people, rigging, and preparations that guests never see. Here's a
sampling of what Doody's eye recorded then, as well as in Christmases past.
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Doug Allen of Pyrotechnico at the
field controller.
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Colonial Williamsburg's Susan Gilliam runs security by
walkie-talkie
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John and Gloria Graham set the Roman candles.
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A Christmas tree set piece wired up in
front of the Governor's Palace. The tree remains fixed on its post, but the
ranks of Roman candles behind it will launch harpoons of fire at the nighttime
sky.
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Grand Illumination fireworks are set up at in
the Historic Area at the Palace, the Courthouse, and the Capitol.
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All centrally
controlled by computer, the timing and choreography of launches are
synchronized.
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Historic Triangle