The call from Sarnia-Lambton Celebration of Lights organizers for volunteers to help light up Sarnia’s Centennial Park for the Christmas season for a 40th year was heard.
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A large crowd showed up on a relatively warm Saturday morning to help assemble the various displays that will be turned on in less than two weeks.
“It’s been great,” said Dean Holtz, who chairs the event’s volunteer board. “We’ve got some good help. Things are coming up nicely and we’re in good shape for our 40th anniversary.”
One of the volunteers who came out Saturday was Yousuf Akram, a new Sarnia resident who decided to come out and lend a hand – in part because he didn’t have much else going on at the time.
“I was bored at home,” he said.
Saturday was coined the “big day” by Holtz, when an army of about 100 volunteers was needed in the park starting at 9 am to help finish assembling the displays. But organizers scheduled several days to set it up.
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The first was Nov. 2, when about 20 volunteers and several trucks and trailers were needed to help move displays stored at Sandrin Services to the park. The next volunteer day was Nov. 12, when about 10 strong people were required to help guide several large displays as they were lifted into place by a Sterling Crane crew, he said.
Volunteers who stayed into the afternoon on Saturday got lunch, thanks to Sarnia Blessings, Holtz said.
This year’s opening ceremonies are set for Nov. 30. About 4,000 attended last year, when about 50 light displays were turned on in the waterfront park.
As well as marking the start of the Christmas season for many area residents, “I think people just love to come down and see the lights,” he said. “Whenever we see beauty, it does lift our spirits.”
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But the board still needs several sponsors, including for the opening ceremony fireworks, wagon rides and trinkets, and the awards ceremony for the Celebration’s annual home lighting displays competition, he said. For details, contact the board via its Facebook page or its website at celebrationoflights.com.
The event relies on donations, 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.
Displays will stay up until early January, when they’ll go back into storage and those needing repairs will be tended to during the year, he said.
-with files from Paul Morden
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