Walk-only nights illuminate the true human spirit of Fresno’s Christmas Tree Lane | Opinion
Two evenings per year, typically midweek during the holiday season, the darndest and most delightful thing happens:
Tens of thousands of Fresnans go for a walk. As a community.
At all other times and situations, automobiles rule the roost in Fresno. That includes Christmas Tree Lane, the charming, kitschy holiday tradition where nearly 150 homes and 300 trees along a 2-mile stretch of Van Ness Boulevard are adorned with colorful lights and festive decorations.
But during those four precious hours on Christmas Tree Lane’s two walk-only nights (the first is past, the second is Wednesday, Dec. 11), pedestrians get top billing while cars are relegated to the outskirts.
What a revolutionary idea.
While the origins of Christmas Tree Lane date back more than a century, the first walk-only night didn’t come along until 1992 — and only for one hour. The experiment proved so popular that the following year an entire evening was carved out for pedestrians. By the early 2000s, it grew to two evenings.
When walk-only nights were canceled for three straight years during the pandemic (organizers felt they could not satisfy the county health department’s requirements for a large-scale event), I tried driving Christmas Tree Lane.
Boy, was that a miserable experience by comparison. You crawl along bumper-to-bumper while forced to crane your neck at unnatural angles to see the decorated houses and avoid the long line of red taillights directly in view. All the while trying not to hit the car in front of you while worrying about getting rear-ended by the oblivious Santa hat-wearing driver behind. Outside, the smell of exhaust wafts in the air.
No thanks.
Me, I’d much rather walk. And judging by the throngs of my fellow bipeds who packed Christmas Tree Lane last week — the estimated turnout was 25,000 people — I’m not alone. Pedestrians of Fresno unite!
Throngs of walkers pack sidewalks
The first indication something unusual was going on (besides the ridiculous line at the Fig Garden Village Starbucks) were packed sidewalks at the corner of Shaw and Palm avenues that stretched past the first rows of buildings. To accommodate the crowds, Fresno police blocked off both the right- and left-turn lanes on westbound Shaw and set the walk signal to 99 seconds so that hundreds could cross the intersection before time expired.
“It’ll be like this for hours,” said the police sergeant who appeared to be in charge.
When folks that drive Christmas Tree Lane in a northerly direction reach Dean Alexander’s house near Shaw, it serves as a de facto grand finale. Walkers (at least those who begin at or near Fig Garden Village) get the biggest visual wallop right away.
Alexander is Christmas Tree Lane’s real life Clark Griswold — except his lights actually work. The civil engineer begins setting up in September, and the results cannot be fully described in a few sentences.
The house itself is lit up like a medieval castle, including a giant clocktower displaying “Merry Christmas.” Candy canes, reindeer, snowmen, snowflakes, nutcrackers and angels dazzle the pupils and compete for their attention. Trains chug in circles. Fake snow falls from the sky, illuminated by colored laser beams.
Once you’ve seen the Alexander house, no other on Christmas Tree Lane quite compares. (Nor would that necessarily be a good idea.) Which allows for a palette-cleansing effect benefiting more quaint and less overwhelming displays farther down the street.
My walks are usually alone or with a small group. So it’s an unusual sensation to be amid hundreds of people strolling in the same or opposite direction and hearing snippets of their conversations. Families walking together, some pushing kids in strollers or pulling them in carts. The mobility impaired rolling along in wheelchairs and seated scooters.
Street filled with holiday cheer
The task of barricading cars off the street and keeping everyone safe fell to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, which had 50 deputies, a medic and a dispatcher on assignment. Every law enforcement agency with any jurisdiction whatsoever was present, from sheriff’s deputies to Fresno police to the California Highway Patrol.
Even Fresno State campus cops, a few of whom stood guard outside the University House while a holiday party (invite only) transpired inside. I resisted the urge to name-drop President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, even though my presence surely would’ve filled him with holiday cheer.
Speaking of great moods, everyone I came across and interacted with seemed to be in one.
Fresno is such a diverse place. So many different types of people, from all walks of life. But when it’s dark and most everyone is bundled up against the chill in coats and beanies while wearing even warmer smiles, it’s amazing how alike we look.
Impossible to get that sense while crawling along in separate metal boxes. This isn’t to say every night Christmas Tree Lane should be a walk-only night. Merely to suggest it might be time for more than two.
