Celebrating 20 years: Opportunity Village’s Magical Forest set to light the holidays

Born from humble beginnings, the Magical Forest will celebrate 20 years with more attractions and its brightest lights ever.

Opportunity Village, 6300 W. Oakey Blvd., replaced about 3 million traditional Christmas lights with energy-efficient LED lighting.

"People will need to bring their sunglasses," said Magical Forest coordinator Debbie Smith.

New attractions for this year include Dasher and Dancer's Downward Drop, Mardi Gras Merriment Maze, Rudolph's Zip-time Zip-line, a hot air balloon ride and a new minigolf course.

Another change that guests can appreciate, said Smith, is the replacement of portable toilets with indoor restrooms.

The Magical Forest is Opportunity Village's biggest fundraiser. More than 180,000 people visited last year's event, raising about $1.3 million to help people with disabilities.

The event has come a long way since its inception as an improvised bake sale.

Linda Smith, associate executive director and chief development officer for Opportunity Village, started what would become Magical Forest at a cocktail reception for donors in 1991 when the first Opportunity Village campus opened on West Oakey Boulevard.

Smith and others decorated the building with Christmas lights, as it was days before the holiday. She also had some potted trees brought in from a nursery and placed them around the campus. Students from Green Valley High School volunteered to decorate the trees.

What started as a one-night reception, snowballed.

"It surprised me when people asked if we were going to have the lights on the next night," Smith said. "That wasn't the plan, but people asked. The next day, more people came, and people asked me again to keep the lights up. ... On the third night it was like, 'Holy cow, look at all these people.' People really want this."

Smith wheeled out a wishing well and a straw bale and called her mother and asked her to bake cookies and brew some hot chocolate.

Opportunity Village raised $3,000 in a few nights from her mom's cookies and hot chocolate and wishing well pennies.

The next year, Smith expanded the event with help from local donors and raised $60,000. She met with a local group of train hobbyists and found a train in California. The group restored the train and built tracks for the forest. Opportunity Village made about $120,000 in its third year.

"That's when the light bulb went off," Smith said. "I saw the same people I saw the year before coming, and this had become their family tradition."

Opportunity Village began charging a $3 entry fee in its fourth year, in part to keep out rowdy teens who were squatting.

As the event grew every year, setting up became a laborious part of the process that volunteers alone could not handle. Smith asked the warden of the former federal prison at Nellis Air Force Base if any of the prisoners could help. For several years, about a dozen white-collar criminals would visit the campus with guards for weeks and build the Magical Forest.

This year's event, which is set to open Wednesday, is expected to raise about $1.5 million and is made possible by the 3,500 volunteers who give their time every season.

"This project has really become bigger than we are," Smith said. "It's not a matter of are we going to do it. The community expects it now. It's just a very important family holiday tradition."

The Magical Forest is open from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Dec. 31.

Admission is $9.75 for adults and $7.75 for children 12 or younger. Toddlers 2 or younger are free. Attraction passports for adults and kids are available starting at $14.25, and season passes are available starting at $25. Tickets can be purchased at the event, at any Opportunity Village campus, at CVS Pharmacy locations and at magicalforest.org.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.