Killarney Guide

This Friday evening, November 20, will be the time for everyone to Light Up the Night in Killarney

BY KIM LANGEN

In a bid to bolster worn and weary spirits, the call is going out to hang up your holiday lights – and celebrate this Christmas in colour.

And if organizers get their wish, all of Killarney’s Christmas light switches will light up at around the same time: this Friday, November 20.

“When darkness falls this Friday, our goal is that when we switch on our lights at the civic offices, hopefully everyone else will do the same,” said Meghan Cuvelier Klassen, finance manager for the Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain. “Wouldn’t it be so nice to see everything light up at the same time?”

Cuvelier Klassen said that last year Killarney’s downtown Christmas lights did not appear at all. 

That was because changing and updating the older hanging banners on Broadway earlier that year meant that the old municipal lights could not be retrofitted into the structures at Christmastime. 

People have been telling local councillors that they missed the cheery holiday lights, she said, so this year it was agreed something would be done to light up the town.

“We had to come up with a plan,” said Cuvelier Klassen. “A committee was created regarding new lights, involving members Connie Blixhavn and Janice Smith, and we started conversations at the end of September. Commercial Christmas lighting is very expensive, and a total budget of $10,000 was set by council.”

Earlier this month, during some delicious balmy days, municipal employees began installing the new lights, she said, both downtown, and outside the civic offices. 

And this Friday will be the big day, when the switches go on, and Christmas illuminations begin to glow.

“There will be lighting on the big conifer outside the town office, on the left, right by the ramp,” said Cuvelier Klassen. “A second lighted location will be on two or three trees on the right of the offices, to the north. At the south end of Broadway, near Co-op Gas, there will be lights on a tree in the meridian there, and at the north end of Broadway, another tree will also be wrapped in lights on the meridian.”

In addition, two illuminated green finials were also purchased, and they will be hung onto a couple of light standards on Broadway, she said. 

“We have never had them before, so we are trying out two of them,” said Cuvelier Klassen. “Everything we are doing is new this year. We can keep building on the Christmas decorations each year.”

In the midst of all these festive discussions, the group began to imagine an even bigger way to celebrate the season. 

“While we were making these plans, we wondered: what can we do to engage the whole community in lighting up the town, and spreading joy and Christmas cheer?” she said. “We thought, let’s get everybody to join in. This kind of idea is spreading across Canada and the U.S. This is something that if people light up, everyone can drive around town – and still obey pandemic rules – to enjoy the lights. I think the Christmas lights are one of the best things about Christmas.”

Snowmen, inflatables, and all other kinds of displays are also being encouraged, along with sharing the neighbourhood images on social media, said Cuvelier Klassen. 

It may be level red in the coronavirus pandemic – but so is Santa’s velvet suit – so get out there, string up all those lovely lights, and enjoy a technicolour Christmas in the snow in 2020.

A VERY BIG CHRISTMAS TREE – Municipal employees took advantage of the great weather on November 2 to begin stringing up the town’s new Christmas lights, including the winding on of a strand here on the big conifer outside the civic offices. On November 20, the municipal illuminations will be formally switched on, and council hopes the rest of the town will join in by turning on loads of Christmas lights of their own – at the same time.

PHOTO/LIANA SMITH 

A WINTER WONDERLAND – Brian and Wenda Anderson’s front porch on Finlay Street was an illuminated dream on Thursday evening, and ready in advance for the Light Up the Night in Killarney event taking place tonight. It may not be Christmas as we know it, but it can still be beautiful. See more festively decorated homes and yards around town below.

JAY STRUTH & STEFEN STRUTH/KILLARNEY GUIDE PHOTOS

LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST –The above photo is of the Bellew’s just west of town on Highway 3, while the bottom ones are from the Rollins family farm just north of Killarney on Highway 18 and east on the first gravel road. The photos are from years past, and this year the municipality is hoping even more folks will decorate their homes for the festive season.

JAY STRUTH/KILLARNEY GUIDE PHOTOS