Streets were aglow with candlelight Sunday night in southern Lawrence’s Indian Hills neighborhood as residents participated in their annual Christmas luminaria.

“It’s a magic look,” was how Ferrol Lattin, who has lived in the neighborhood for two years, described it. “It is a nice contrast to the commercial lighting that’s available and which decorate the neighborhood.”

It has been 21 years since the first white bags containing sand to hold and stabilize burning candles were set out along the curbs in front of houses, giving passing motorists and pedestrians a sense of a winter night wonderland.

The luminaria tradition was started by Jeanne Ellermeier and her friend and neighbor, Joyce Wolf, along with a few other residents. The practice quickly caught on throughout the Indian Hills neighborhood and grew until it reached a peak several years ago when more than 4,000 candles were set out.

“It’s lovely,” Ellermeier said. “It’s always been a popular thing to do.”

The luminarias have since become a project of the Indian Hills Neighborhood Assn. and is conducted the Sunday before Christmas, generally for about two hours from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Ellermeier is the president of the association. Indian Hills is considered the neighborhood between Louisiana Street and Naismith Park and 24th Street to 29th Terrace.

To assist residents who want to participate, association leaders give out the white bags, sand and candles for free. Saturday the supplies were available to be picked up at Indian Hills Church of God, at Louisiana Street and 29th Terrace. The sand was donated by the Penny’s Concrete Co. and was delivered to the church parking lot by R.D. Johnson Excavating Co.

The Indian Hills luminaria tradition doesn’t have any religious connotation, Ellermeier said. She said neighborhood residents of all faiths participated.

“There are not a lot of functions where neighbors can do something together and that is what this is all about,” Ellermeier said. “We just consider it a good, neighborly thing to do and the neighbors seem to enjoy it.”

Luminarias line the street and driveways in the Indian Hills neighborhood as part of a yearly tradition of lighting the area. The neighborhood association has organized the event for 21 consecutive years.

Although other Lawrence neighborhoods have had luminarias, Indian Hills is one of the oldest in terms of consecutive years.

Luminarias trace their origin to Mexico and the southwestern United States, where natives once built bonfires in front of their homes on Christmas Eve.