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Old decorations find new homes

Mar 16, 2017 | 1:04 PM

The old Christmas decorations that lit up downtown North Battleford were about to be disassembled, but thanks to two local stakeholders they’ll be put to good use.

The city announced at its Feb. 21 planning committee meeting it would take whatever it could get after no one responded to the Kijiji and Battlefords Buy and Sell posts.

At Monday’s city council meeting the city’s forestry operator foreman, Tim Yeaman, announced they had two groups interested in taking the decorations. The city will donate 28 snowflake decorations to the Western Development Museum (WDM) and sold 22 candle and 28 bell decorations to Maidstone for $20.

“There’s nothing better than knowing that something we’ve taken pride in over several years will continue to be utilized,” Yeaman said. “A lot of these decorations were actually built by past city employees, so to see them being used in other communities and possibly the WDM, there is a sense of pride there.”

According to Yeaman finding someone to take the decorations also saved the city money. He said the man hours it would take to disassemble them and separate the recyclable parts can now go to better use.

The recipients are just as happy, as both parties have big plans for the decorations.

 Accordong to manager of the WDM, Joyce Smith, they will be used in next year’s “Light up the Village.” Locals can build their own light displays which will be placed on the village lawn.

“When we found out that the city was disposing of them we thought they fit right in with what we were doing,” Smith said. “So we contacted them and it all worked out well.”

According to Maidstone’s administrator Lorne Kachur, the decorations will be used to make the town look more festive. 

“We’ll basically be replacing the ones we’ve been using on Main St. and throughout the town,” Kachur said. “We are actually going to increase the amount we had from the previous year. It should boost Christmas spirit. People really like that stuff.”

Some of the decorations need restoration work, but both the WDM and Maidstone said they will take care of refurbishing costs. 

The decorations are currently stored at a bunker at the North Battleford Airport, and Yeaman said once the ground thaws they will be ready to ship.   

 

Greg.Higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @realgreghiggins