Orlando raises Kazanzas star for holidays

ORLANDO, Fla. - It just isn't the holidays in Orlando, without the Kazanzas star hanging proudly across Orange Avenue. Sunday morning, workers hoisted the star into place at the intersection of Orange and Central. Sisters Peggy Reed Mann and Betty Reed Kendall say they try not to miss it. "It's a beautiful downtown holiday star, because it is a holiday star, it goes through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then New Year's," said Mann.

The rising of the star is more meaningful for them than most. They're the daughters of Wilson Reed, who owned one of the two department stores that had stood on opposite corners of Orange Avenue, decades ago. "The purpose was to bring the two department stores together for unity during the season. So it was a nice thing to do, which was the Spirit of Christmas," said Kendall.

By 1984, both stores had closed, but local resident Jack Kazanzas led a grassroots campaign to replace the star with a new one and keep it hanging every holiday season. The city outfitted the star with 4,000 LED lights in 2010, letting it shine much brighter and making it more energy efficient. "So you can see where there were many hands that played a part from the very beginning, with the founding of the star in 1955, over a period of years," Mann said.

Work crews from the city and OUC closed a block of Orange Avenue while they did the work, fitting the frame around the star and raising it between the buildings. City officials say the star should remain shining brightly above Orange Avenue until sometime in January. Visitors say it's a great holiday symbol. "A lot of people might come to see the star," said Orlando resident Ebony Meyer, "I think people would enjoy it. It does bring a festive feel, a feliz navidad type of thing, for all cultures and people."