Good morning, Symphony Woods.
The television news show "Good Morning America" will tape the holiday lights display "Symphony of Lights" at Columbia's Symphony Woods tonight.
The show will air sometime between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Thursday or Friday.
The 4 1/2 -minute piece is a montage of three Christmas "feel good" stories for GMA correspondent Steve Fox's fifth "Annual Christmas Card."
"The 'Christmas Card' segments usually feature interesting things going on across the country," said Sandra Aiken, associate producer for "Good Morning America."
"It's a Christmas card to the audience of things you can enjoy and get good feelings from."
"Symphony of Lights," a fund-raiser for Howard County General Hospital, features more than 40 illuminated displays, some 20 to 35 feet high, along a 1.4-mile route. Leaping reindeer, giant toy soldiers firing cannons, carriages drawn by trotting horses, and Santa Claus and his sled greet visitors during the 20-minute drive-through.
Also featured in the montage is "Santa's North Pole Express" on the Essex steam train in Essex, Conn.
The train, which is decorated for Christmas, features Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, who meet and greet passengers and hand out holiday treats. People who live along the 90-minute train route through the Essex countryside decorate their homes for the attraction.
The third montage segment features the staff at Allied Services Rehabilitation Hospital in Scranton, Pa., where therapists and technicians modify toys for disabled children.
"They make buttons bigger or add mechanisms to make toys work easier," Ms. Aiken said.
Ms. Aiken, who researches stories for the show, discovered "Symphony of Lights" during a Nexis computer search. She read about the exhibit in a West Columbia neighborhood column written by Larry Sturgill of The Sun for Howard County.
"The display sounded visual, Christmas-oriented," Ms. Aiken said. "We thought we would see happy families, happy kids. It would represent the joy of Christmas."
A cameraman, audio technician and GMA producer Bob Tuschman will film the lights display about 6 tonight.
To get the reactions of a "typical" family, the crew will ride with Debra Slack-Katz, physician services representative for the hospital; her husband, Julian Katz; and their children Samantha, 4, and John, 7, of western Howard County.
"They asked for a family whose children are articulate," said John Walker, hospital community relations director.
Despite the national coverage, no last-minute touches will be made to Santa, the reindeer or any of the toy soldiers.
"The show is the show," Mr. Walker said.