In 2004 Charlie Boyce and his partner Greg Voight saw the Desert Botanical Garden at night for the first time.

“It was surreal,” Boyce said. “We had heard the garden was beautiful during the month of December, but we weren’t expecting anything like this. The shadows of the plants; the beauty of the candle lights in the desert’s darkness; the magic of the music playing in the background.

“That is when we decided it would have been a great place to volunteer for.”

Five years later, the two continue to be fascinated by the atmosphere of the garden on December evenings as they look forward to helping light 8,000 candles for the 32nd edition of Las Noches De Las Luminarias.

Boyce and Voight are two of 60 volunteers who, starting on December 3, will fuse the holiday spirit with the Southwest at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden to create a flickering wonderland.

The 20-night run features the hand-lighted luminaries, trailside performers and art installations by Apache master sculptor Allan Houser.

“We have this unique lighter that was designed appositely for us,” said Charlie Butterworth, the Luminarias lighting and snuffing chairman. “Volunteers use a small butane torch mounted onto a length of PVC piping. They don’t even need to bend over, they just walk along the paths and light the candles up.”

Once the night is over, Butterworth said, they turn them off with a custom designed “snuffer.”

“It is made out of a turkey baster connected to a plastic pipe,” he said. “The person simply has to insert the end of the stick into a luminaria, quickly squeeze the bulb and the candle is extinguished.

“Luminarias in the entire garden can be snuffed in less than 20 minutes,” Butterworth said.

Pam Levin, the Luminarias volunteer chairwoman, said about 25 staff members and volunteers get to the garden near 4 p.m. and light the luminaries. By dividing the trails up in sections it takes approximately 45 minutes to light the entire garden.

Always, though, more people are needed to fill up the thousands of bags with sand.

“This year we had eight corporate groups coming in to help in stabilizing the bags with a sand base,” Levin said. “After all these years we have got the pre and post lighting process down to a science.”

The wax candles are made to last 15 hours and they are changed every other day for a total of 10 times during the whole length of the event.

Marcia Flynn, director of event services, said that volunteers play a major role in the success of the event and their support and leadership is vital. Planning starts in June.

“The event has become a ‘well-oiled machine’ over the last 32 years, and we have become more efficient in how the event is planned and executed,” she said.

Kate Sape, special events manager, agreed.

“The technique of lighting and putting out the Luminaria bags at a fast pace is an acquired skill,” Sape said. “Many of us had our practice over the years.”

With a volunteer base of more than 1,000 people, Sape said, the Desert Botanical Garden is able to plan several special events throughout the year including fundraisers such as Biergarten, Corks & Cactus and Agave on the Rocks. However, the Luminaria remains a Southwest holiday tradition that brings the holiday experience to the desert with elegance, beauty and illumination.

“It not only gives the community a beautiful place to gather with family and friends to embrace and celebrate the holidays,” Sape said. “It is a fundraiser for the garden ensuring that this desert oasis can maintain itself as a Valley institution.”   

Yet, everybody seemed to agree that all the months and hard work spent organizing the December evenings are worthwhile.

“It is wonderful to hear and read the compliments,” Sape said. “The rewarding part is being a part of creating something from concept to reality and then seeing the attendees enjoy the experience.”

Butterworth said the magical feel that the luminarias bring to the garden entice guests to see what is around the corner.

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