GOOD NEWS! Look Who’s Gonna Turn On The Circle Of Lights® Downtown This Year!

A sixth grader from Greenwood will have a major role in beginning the Christmas Holiday Season in Indianapolis when she lights the Circle of Lights® on Monument Circle. Quality Connection and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW Local 481, the partners that present the annual Circle of Lights® is proud to announce that Gabrielle Nicole Allen will “flip the switch” to kickoff the Christmas season downtown.

Gabrielle Nicole Allen will “Flip the Switch” to Light the 2014 Circle of Lights® On the Circle

Allen earned this honor as the winner of the annual Circle of Lights® Coloring Contest sponsored by Quality Connection, IBEW Local 481 and Downtown Indy.  Gabrielle Nicole Allen is an 11-year-old sixth-grade student at Clark-Pleasant Intermediate School in Greenwood. To our knowledge Allen may be the first African-American to earn the honor of joining Santa Claus and the Mayor of Indianapolis in flipping the switch to turn on the 4,784 multi-colored lights on Monument Circle. (Afternoons with Amos asked Downtown Indy if there had been any other African-American youngsters who’ve flipped the Circle of Lights® switch in the past but they didn’t respond by our deadline.)  Gabrielle Allen may be making Hoosier History when the switch is flipped around 7:50pm, Friday, November 28th and seen live on WRTV/Channel 6.

Gabrielle Allen’s Winning Coloring Contest Entry

Allen’s  coloring contest entry seen here entitled “Love Indiana My Hometown” was chosen from more than 2,000 entries. Gabrielle Nicole Allen will receive a CollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan of $529 to help her save for her college education. Four others were finalists in the contest: Chase Hayes, age 12; Olivia Barnett, age 10; Molly Bates, age 9 and Bryce McIntosh, age 9. They also received $529 in a 529 Savings Plan. The Circle of Lights® are on display on Monument Circle through the New Year’s Holiday.