The sky above Chautauqua County was filled with hundreds of colors on Sunday night, as Light the Lakes officially took off.
Spearheaded by Dan Dalpra and the Bemus Bay Pops, the event featured simultaneous fireworks displays at 10:10 p.m. in several communities in the region. According to Dalpra, the displays are aimed at inviting visitors to the entire region, not just individual towns and villages.
''The beauty of this thing ... it's just going to be great for the entire region,'' Dalpra said recently. ''It will be one of the first times where you will have all of these communities working together as one destination, one unit, one reason to come here. Then when you come here, you've got all these different layers and flavors to enjoy.''
Several municipalities and businesses took part in the event, including Findley Lake, Bemus Point, Mayville, Westfield-Barcelona, Lakewood and Midway Park.
''Everything is really coming together just brilliantly,'' Dalpra said recently. ''All the communities have rallied behind this and they've all got their individual events going on.''
At an estimated cost of $10,000, the event was billed as one of the largest in North America and was believed to be visible from space.
Dalpra said the local media enhanced the show, adding the Media One Group radio stations WWSE 93.3 FM and WJTN 1240 AM suspended their station's regular programming and aired music which coincided with the fireworks.
Prior to the show, the City of Jamestown also held its own fireworks show at Bergman Park and a laser light show was held at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena.
Some drivers traveling on Interstate 86 pulled their vehicles to the side of the highway to catch a glimpse of the display.
In addition to the Bemus Point Pops, Light the Lakes was made possible by the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau, the county of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency, New York State Senator Catharine M. Young and the several host communities. The event was co-sponsored by Media One Group, The Post-Journal and WGRZ TV.
Nicholas L. Dean, reporter for The Post-Journal, contributed to this story.
