Cuneo Museum light show tops average for Vernon Hills

Attendance for Vernon Hills' Winter Wonderland holiday light show this year provided a belated present for village trustees.

Be it the economy or a desire to stick close to home, more people viewed the electrified sights at the Cuneo Museum and Gardens than any season since 1998, when the event was relatively new.

The final tally pegged the attendance for the event, which ran from Nov. 27 to Jan. 2, at 20,505. That's the highest since 21,518 in 1998. The average is 18,831.

"One theory might be the 'staycation' idea that people weren't traveling as much in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas," Village Manager Mike Allison said. "The other thing would be people are doing more family-oriented things."

Allison noted the 66 special license plates that were sold generated 444 individual visits. Those plates allowed unlimited access.

"There are some people that go through 10 or 15 times," he said.

The attendance was a bit surprising, given the village board cut the marketing budget from $17,000 to $5,000.

Allison said the village board kidded him that maybe they shouldn't advertise at all for the 2010-11 show.

There had been some trepidation, especially since last year's attendance was the lowest since 2000.

"We cut down the advertising and we thought this year people were hunkering down. But it was great," he said.

The village reported that 761 coupons, offered on the Web site for the first time, also were used.

"I think people were looking for inexpensive, fun things to do," Trustee Jeanne Schwartz said.

How much that will translate to village coffers is to be determined. The event generated more than $150,000, but that was before expenses and overtime. The Cuneo Museum and Gardens gets 30 percent of the proceeds.

While there is some surplus, it not considered a big moneymaker.

"It's a combination of a community event and promotion," Allison said.