Info for Sponsors
Thank you for supporting Longview’s annual Solstice Lantern Walk Through the Solar System!
If you're not familiar with the event, read our Solstice intro page or see the volunteer page. We want a simple event, free to the public and low-cost for the sponsors, where residents can get out for some light and cheer on the longest night of the year.
If you're ready to help create another great event by sponsoring a planet, read on!
What to expect
We hope to have hundreds of participants as we did in previous years. They'll come by your planet to learn about that planet and to meet you and your organization. Have fun introducing yourself to the great people in Longview, and don't forget to stamp their passports!
Reserving your planet
Last year's sponsors get preference for this year's event. Most will participate again, but some may drop out - and there is plenty of space between the outer planets. Contact us to confirm your interest and location.
Cost to sponsors
This event is deliberately low-cost to sponsors. We do need $75 contributions to share costs for permits, printing, luminaria supplies, portapotties and similar expenses. Additional costs are zero to whatever you want to spend at your planet.
Suggestions for your planet
Be creative!
We'll have judges taking notes for awards. The details are up to you, but make participants happy they got out of the house to meet you!
For more ideas, have a look at what a Solstice Lantern Walk looks like in Vancouver, BC (more than 25 years already):
secretlantern.org.
If you have ideas to make it a better event this year or next, let us know.
Special request - luminaria
Light up the path to and from your location as far as you can with luminaria. Luminarias are cheap electric tea lights in paper bags, weighted with a bit of sand. That's what you see in the photo above.
They are inexpensive to buy or make, but they make a huge difference in the event. In 2018, our sponsor at Saturn lit up hundreds of yards or pathway with luminarias - it was spectacular! The Boys Scouts topped that in 2019, lighting up over half a mile of pathway.
Our long-term goal is to light up the whole path - 1.64 miles!
Required
Set up and take down
This event is designed to not involve
Longview Parks and Rec is very supportive of this event. If you want to serve food, for example, or have a special request or idea that doesn't quite fit the notes above, let's work with Parks and Rec and see if we can make it happen.
If you're not familiar with the event, read our Solstice intro page or see the volunteer page. We want a simple event, free to the public and low-cost for the sponsors, where residents can get out for some light and cheer on the longest night of the year.
If you're ready to help create another great event by sponsoring a planet, read on!
What to expect
We hope to have hundreds of participants as we did in previous years. They'll come by your planet to learn about that planet and to meet you and your organization. Have fun introducing yourself to the great people in Longview, and don't forget to stamp their passports!
Reserving your planet
Last year's sponsors get preference for this year's event. Most will participate again, but some may drop out - and there is plenty of space between the outer planets. Contact us to confirm your interest and location.
Cost to sponsors
This event is deliberately low-cost to sponsors. We do need $75 contributions to share costs for permits, printing, luminaria supplies, portapotties and similar expenses. Additional costs are zero to whatever you want to spend at your planet.
- Donations to Friends of Galileo, to support this and future events, cheerfully accepted!
Suggestions for your planet
- Minimum two or three volunteers to staff your location
- Table or two
- Pop-up canopy or two
- Chairs for your volunteers
- Information to hand out about your group
- Signs or other information about your planet or about the solstice or about the solar system
- Maybe candy, stickers, etc. to hand out for the kids
- Ink stamp to stamp participants' passports (may be supplied by Friends of Galileo, or use your own)
- Plenty of lanterns, lights, luminaria, etc to light up your location and the path leading to and from your planet
Be creative!
We'll have judges taking notes for awards. The details are up to you, but make participants happy they got out of the house to meet you!
For more ideas, have a look at what a Solstice Lantern Walk looks like in Vancouver, BC (more than 25 years already):
secretlantern.org.
If you have ideas to make it a better event this year or next, let us know.
Special request - luminaria
Light up the path to and from your location as far as you can with luminaria. Luminarias are cheap electric tea lights in paper bags, weighted with a bit of sand. That's what you see in the photo above.
They are inexpensive to buy or make, but they make a huge difference in the event. In 2018, our sponsor at Saturn lit up hundreds of yards or pathway with luminarias - it was spectacular! The Boys Scouts topped that in 2019, lighting up over half a mile of pathway.
- Plan to set out at least two dozen on either side of your planet, say two or three yards apart.
Our long-term goal is to light up the whole path - 1.64 miles!
Required
- Contribute your share of the costs in a timely way (by Oct. 31).
- Be sure Friends of Galileo has contact info for your group’s Solstice Walk coordinator (name, email, cell number).
- Respond to event communications in a timely way.
- Know about the event in general, to answer participants' questions.
- Don't rely on one person. Make sure several members of your group are aware of this page and the main Solstice page.
- Promote the event to your group and ask them to promote it to their friends and family. Share our event poster within and beyond your group.
- Let Friends of Galileo know if people in your group can help with event organization.
Set up and take down
- Have a plan to set up at your spot.
- Be familiar with your location ahead of time, in daylight. Think about parking, and how to move canopies and tables etc to and from your planet. Don't drive on the grass or pathways.
- Check with Friends of Galileo during set up and take down, in case you need assistance or in case someone else needs yours.
- Have a plan to clean up in the dark, including a litter sweep from your location to the sponsors on either side of you. Have trash bags on hand for any litter in your area, so we can leave the solar system cleaner than we found it.
- Hope for great weather. Prepare for cold, snow, or rain.
- Hot cocoa and cookies for your volunteers. Treat them well. They deserve it!
This event is designed to not involve
- Generators or other sources of noise (batteries, inverters ok)
- Amplified sound (acoustic guitars, carolers and the like are welcome!)
- Politics or religion
- Fireworks, open flame, alcohol or food (pre-packaged food is ok to hand out)
- Sales, fundraising, soliciting (but by all means, describe your organization)
Longview Parks and Rec is very supportive of this event. If you want to serve food, for example, or have a special request or idea that doesn't quite fit the notes above, let's work with Parks and Rec and see if we can make it happen.
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