Garden is looking a lot like Christmas

George Wallace, Santa, Zowie Bowie to celebrate start of season at ethel's

Bryan Haraway/SPECIAL TO VIEWSanta Claus will greet visitors tonight at the Botanical Cactus Garden at ethel?s chocolate factory, 2 Cactus Garden Drive. The garden?s holiday lights will be lit tonight. Advertisement

It may be the 16th annual Holiday Cactus Lighting event at ethel's chocolate, but this is the first year that the public is invited.

"We wanted to let people enjoy this with us," said Jennifer Gudegel, ethel's brand director. "This event is a way for us to give back."

Las Vegas Valley residents always have been welcome to check out the lights and meet Santa during the holiday season, but the lighting event has been for current and retired employees, invited guests and media. This year, anyone with a candy wrapper to recycle can attend the event from 5 to 8 p.m. today. The wrappers can be from any type of candy.

The candy wrappers will be collected by TerraCycle, a recycling company that makes eco-friendly products from waste materials. TerraCycle works with organizations across the country to recycle candy wrappers as part of its Mars Candy Wrapper Brigades. The brigades collect the wrappers and send them to TerraCycle, which donates 2 cents for each wrapper to a school or nonprofit of the brigade's choice.

"This is a great opportunity to keep these wrappers out of the landfill," said Albe Zakes, vice president of media relations with TerraCycle. "We'd also like to get the word out about the program, and hopefully people will send their wrappers in from now on."

About 50 products, including purses, jewelry boxes, picture frames and messenger bags made from wrappers are available at major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Home Depot, OfficeMax and Whole Foods Market. The items are made from almost 100 percent recycled wrappers.

Zakes said the wrappers collected at the cactus lighting will be part of products produced in the spring and sold at Walmart.

The lighting will be hosted by comedian George Wallace, with holiday performances by Las Vegas Strip headliner Zowie Bowie and musician Michael Grimm.

Guests also are asked to bring a toy for Wallace's annual toy drive, and hot chocolate and water will be for sale. Proceeds will benefit Opportunity Village, which Zowie Bowie supports.

More than a half-million colorful lights will shine at approximately 6 p.m. at the 3-acre Botanical Cactus Garden adjacent to ethel's chocolate factory, 2 Cactus Garden Drive.

Gudegel said she hopes to see hundreds of chocolate lovers at the lighting.

There will be chocolate samples for all guests. In addition to some traditional candies, there also will be a large selection of peppermint specialities, such as peppermint bark and peppermint pretzels, in the spirit of the holiday season.

Santa will be available for photos, and local school choirs will sing holiday classics.

For anyone who can't make it to the event, the holiday cactus garden will be open from sundown until 10 p.m. every day through Jan. 1, except Christmas Day, when it will be closed. On Christmas Eve, it will close at 8 p.m.

Entry to the garden is always free. Santa will be at the garden from 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 20, as well as Dec. 21-23.

For information on the Holiday Cactus Garden, visit www.ethelschocolate.com or call (800) 680-0150. For information on TerraCycle, visit www.terracycle.net.

Contact Henderson View reporter Lauren Romano at lromano@viewnews.com or 477-3839.