Another season of the Sarnia-Lambton Celebration of Lights is officially in the books.
Article content
The 40th edition of the seasonal display in Centennial Park was taken down, disassembled and put in storage Saturday. Dean Holtz, who chairs the event’s volunteer board, estimated about 30 people came out to help tear down the lights and decorations.
“Which is less than we hope for, but people are working hard so that’s all we can ask for,” he said on a cool and snowy Saturday morning.
Volunteers were asked to show up around 9 am at the waterfront park. Holtz estimated with the size of the crew they had it would take them all day to finish the job.
“If we had more people it might be mid-afternoon, but I think realistically it’ll be dinnertime,” he said.
A larger crowd of about 100 came out to help put everything up on a Saturday in mid-November, but it was much warmer at the time.
Article content
Jett Terpstra from Sarnia volunteered at both the set up and teardown days.
“Gotta get those volunteer hours,” he said Saturday.
Holtz said they got a head start on taking down some of the larger items on Tuesday with a crane ahead of Saturday’s event, which featured a section of Front Street closed to traffic. Most of the displays are stored in a shipping container on a nearby property while a few have to be kept in climate-controlled storage in Point Edward, he said.
This year’s opening ceremonies were Nov. 30. It generally attracts about 4,000 people. The last day the lights were activated was New Year’s Day.
The event relies on donations and sponsors, with about three-quarters of its estimated $200,000 in annual expenses covered by gifts in kind from businesses and organizations and nearly $50,000 in financial contributions, Holtz said.
“Our community really rallies behind it,” Holtz said.
Share this article in your social network