Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
As usual, Hay River is lit up for Christmas, and town council has once again recognized some of the best seasonal displays of lights and other decorations.
On Dec. 13, three members of council took the annual Twinkle Tour around the community to check out the displays.
And at the Dec. 16 meeting of council, four awards were presented for the displays.
"There's definitely some nice ones out there and a lot of work went into a lot of them," said Coun. Keith Dohey in announcing the award winners. "So it was nice to get out and do this again this year."
The award for best traditional display went to Chris and Marshi Earle. Honourable mentions in that category went to Merv Templeton, Darren and Misty Robertson, and Jonathan Cooper.
Dan and Janine Kipling were recognized for the most creative display, while an honourable mention went to George and Tina Rewega.
The Ptarmigan Inn was honoured in the business/community group category, with honourable mentions going to St. Andrew's Anglican Church and Our Lady of Assumption Roman Catholic Church.
Elaine Bolt and Fred Planidin received the award for the best yard display, while honourable mentions went to Dale Froese, Slim Courtoreille and Greg Rowe.
Mayor Kandis Jameson also congratulated the winners.
"I just want to acknowledge it's so nice to see our town looking so pretty and lit right up," she said. "So thank you again for it. It looks amazing."
In comments to The Hub, Glenn Smith, the assistant senior administrative officer with the town, said that decorated buildings make the holidays more festive and lightens the mood during the winter.
"It can be a very cold time of year," he said. "It's nice to go out and see that people have dedicated their time to going out in the cold and putting lights up."
Smith noted that the community looks very vibrant this season with its Christmas lights.
"There seems to be more lights up this year," he said.
Smith added he can only speculate whether the Twinkle Tour has helped encourage people to light up their homes and businesses for Christmas.
"I think, as a minimum, what it does is ensure that people are ready for that day and are turning their lights on," he said.
Smith noted that, based on other communities and cities where he has lived, Hay River residents do a really good job with their Christmas lights.