Love countdowns3/29/2023 ![]() As Moore pointed out, when he first started hosting the event they would film it then later put it on television. The planning and production of the ceremony has grown, too. What was once a small gathering in the 1930s has grown to an event that attracts tens of thousands of people from the Kansas City area and across the Midwest. “There was a question as to whether it would be proper to do it but with everything built back up and ready to go even though marks remained on the buildings, there was a feeling that it should be done.” “There were a lot of questions as to whether there was going to be a lighting ceremony or not,” said Moore. 41 Action News talked with him on a Friday afternoon at his farm. He said the lighting ceremony that sticks out in his mind took place in 1977 months after the deadly flooding on the plaza. Larry Moore, a long-time news anchor at KMBC-TV, emceed the lighting for decades and witnessed how the ceremony changed and grew over the years. doing that countdown and having the lights come on in sync with the fireworks, it’s a great moment and experience.” “We get to do a countdown and when we get thirty, fifty or one-hundred thousand people and everyone at home as well as people watching from all over. “I love countdowns,” explained Lezak when asked to provide his favorite moment during the ceremony. “It welcomes the holiday and frames it in a beautiful way.”Ĥ1 Action News Chief Meteorologist Gary Lezak has emceed the ceremony for several years. “It’s incredible how every building has its own descriptive style and color of lights,” said Country Club Plaza General Manager Meredith Keeler. The first Plaza Lighting ceremony took place a few years later in 1930. The lighting tradition first started in 1925 when a single strand of colored bulbs was draped over the entrance to what is now the Millcreek Building on 47th Street. Thousands of multi-colored bulbs cover every dome and tower on the plaza to brighten shoppers’ spirits as they walk through the historic shopping center. ![]() Many of us would agree - flipping the switch to turn on the lights at the Country Club Plaza unofficially kicks off the holiday season in Kansas City.
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