In brief: Holiday lights at Manito Park conservatory

The Spokane Parks and Recreation Department’s holiday light display at Gaiser Conservatory at Manito Park begins Friday at 8 a.m. and will continue through Dec. 16.

The conservatory will be decked out with some 30,000 holiday lights, which play off the ongoing plant displays inside the warm greenhouses.

Spokane’s 101-year-old Christmas cactus should be in bloom. Also, the plant display will include a collection of poinsettias and other tropical flowers.

The light show dates back to 1994 and has been held every year since then with the exception of 1996 when a severe ice storm prevented the display.

Hours of viewing are from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Because the display has become popular, the conservatory can get filled with crowds of visitors. Parks officials suggest attending the show about 4 p.m. when the sun sets.

– Mike Prager

DOWNTOWN

Hope House women’s shelter in need of blankets

With temperatures dropping and snow falling, the Hope House, 111 W. Third Ave., is in urgent need of blankets.

The shelter said there are nearly 2,000 homeless single women in Spokane, and when it gets colder than 10 degrees, it is one of the warming centers designated for the city.

If the shelter is full, women can sit in the shelter with hot coffee and a warm blanket through the night.

Blankets will be accepted at the shelter between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., or at the Volunteers of America Crosswalk, 525 W. Second Ave., at any time.

For more information, call Rusty Barnett, Hope House program coordinator at 455-2886, or Marilee Roloff, Volunteers of America president and chief executive officer at 624-2378.

– Lisa Leinberger