It's only a plastic penguin, but some still find hope in it

Marcia Hales doesn't claim to have a penguin with special powers.

She said the idea for the wishing penguin in her much-visited Park Point holiday lighting display came from friend Marilyn Krueger's granddaughter about seven years ago.

Krueger said she remembers the day 4-year-old Alison wrapped her arms around one of the penguins, calling it her wishing penguin.

"She was totally enraptured with that penguin," she said.

"I made a sign up after that," Hales said. "A lot of babies have been wished for on that penguin's head."

Hibbing resident Donna Kennedy happened upon Hales' holiday lighting display when she was having a few of the worst days of her life.

"I was starting to feel hopeless," she said.

She hadn't been sleeping, her car had gotten stuck in a snow bank and chronic pain related to a bad fall on the ice some years earlier was only getting worse. After what she thought could be another futile doctor's appointment in the Twin Cities, Kennedy was driving back in a snowstorm. Hours later, when she finally reached Cloquet, for some reason she chose to continue to Duluth instead of her home in Hibbing.

She had never driven to Park Point in the winter and thought she'd try

photographing Bentleyville from there. But when Kennedy saw the thousands of white holiday lights at Hales' house, she was immediately drawn in.

"I was just going to sneak up and take photos," she said. "Then I realized it was a walk-through display."

At first, she didn't notice the small plastic penguin situated near the entrance.

Near a fire pit in the midst of the lighting display, Kennedy got to talking with a grandson of Hales. After a time, he invited Kennedy to meet Hales in her home. Kennedy said it was clear she and Hales were meant to be friends.

"I got there at about 5:30 p.m., but I didn't leave until after 11 p.m.," she said. "What Marcia didn't realize was what bad shape I was in, but she gave me a refuge on a night I needed to be around people."

By the time Kennedy left, she had heard of the "special wishing penguin," and went out to give it a try.

"I wished for my pain to go away," she said. "The top of the penguin really caught my eye being so smooth and worn from others' wishes."

Shortly thereafter, she received long-awaited test results that helped doctors pinpoint the source of her pain. Since then, she has learned better ways to manage her pain and found physical therapists in Duluth who are helping her regain the use of her shoulder.

"Maybe the timing was a coincidence," she said. "I think what that did was give me hope."

Hales' friend Krueger said her grandchildren mostly wished for toys, and, although they did receive most of the toys, it wasn't too amazing to Krueger because she purchased them.

"Maybe in that way the penguin has powers of opening the pocketbook," she said with a laugh.

The display will be available for public view from 5-9 p.m. weekdays and from 5-10 p.m. weekends at 3739 S. Lake Ave. on Park Point. Santa visits Fridays and Saturdays and the display will be on through New Year's Eve.

The display, which also has a warming house with free treats and beverages, is free and open to the public.