While modest, the return of holiday lights at Pinafore Park has been well received, parks official says
The dark nights at this time of year are just a bit brighter this season at our Pinafore Park.
Almost 10 years after the annual Fantasy of Lights pulled the plug on annual illuminated displays at the park, and after a couple of years of Sarah Teare and family and friends stringing lights to Light the Night at Pinafore, the city’s showcase park is sparkling once again.
“As I am sure you know, the community has been quite vocal about wanting to light Pinafore Park for many years following the end of Fantasy of Lights in 2015,” Adrienne Griffin, city manager of parks and forestry, shares.
“Sarah Teare graciously lit the park during the Light the Night event for a few years following the Fantasy of Lights.
“The constant theme, however, in why these events did not continue was the need for volunteers to install, engage the community throughout the event and then, of course, remove the lights after the holidays.”
Since spring, city staffers have been in conversation with CLC Tree Services, which lights the downtown St. Thomas Christmas tree, as well as parks and homes in London and area.
“We called on them to see what they could propose for Pinafore Park. Through the spring and summer months, we were planning this event to hopefully address the need for a holiday light display in the city, so that residents can stay in St. Thomas rather than having to leave the city to enjoy a festive display.”
And the rest is magic.
Though this year’s display has been a modest return of lights, “it has gone over extremely well,” Griffin said.
“Many compliments on the beauty that just a few lit trees can add to Pinafore Park at this time of year. The city, along with sponsored trees from CLC Tree Services and AMICO, have lit 12 trees in the park with branch and trunk light wraps, or cylinder and globe ornaments.”
And CLC has created a plan to eventually light more than 50 trees at Pinafore.
“We are hoping to grow this event every year and gain additional community support through sponsorship while, at the same time, giving back to the community.”
Here’s a comment passed along from Adrienne from CLC’s Calvin McCallum.
“We see this lighting display as a great way for local businesses to connect and network while participating in something that the whole city can enjoy.
“We would like to personally thank AMICO construction for being the first to donate and, therefore, we will donate their entire contribution for this first year’s display to the United Way. Going forward, all contributors will have 10 per cent of their input donated to United Way.
“We’re already planning new options for next year and hope to make this the go to display for Southwestern Ontario.”
(Sidebar, here. Tecumseh-based AMICO built the Seasons retirement residence in StT. Projects also include the Dundas Place downtown redevelopment in London.)
The Pinafore lights are on 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. nightly, and 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. in the morning. The display continues through to the end of January.
There you have it.
Contact Adrienne or CLC for future sponsorship opportunity.
Says the parks manager: “We are certainly willing to start planning for next year while it’s top of mind!”
And that’s a wrap on Christmas Care’s 2023 campaign.
“We operated from Oct. 30 until Dec. 21,” president Richard Auckland reports. “We packed about 1,550 hampers full of non-perishable food. Most hampers contained a turkey, a turkey roll or a ham. (Some who share living space receive one meat for the group.)
“We packed toys for almost 900 children up to age 11. We provided gift cards for about 300 teens.”
And making this mighty effort possible, to ensure no one goes without holiday cheer, is a generous community – from those who collected and donated money, food and toys in support of the annual campaign to those scores of volunteers who put it together.
“This is a real community effort, and we are so thankful to everyone who has helped us in any way,” Richard says.
And here’s how this year’s campaign shaped up.
“Approximately 100 volunteers share their time with us in administration (registering), toys (reviewing toy requests and packing boxes for each child registered) and food (gathering donations and organizing them for hamper assembly), and all are involved with pickup and distribution.
“A steady stream of clients came for pick up on Friday, Dec. 15, and Tuesday, Dec. 19. Thanks to some of our local businesses, individuals and service groups for helping with deliveries or providing rides for some of our clients.
“Individuals and families contribute through donations of food, toys and funds. Corporations, schools, service clubs, churches and others support us through fundraising efforts and toy or food drives. Several companies or individuals assist us with distribution or giving clients rides.
“Elgin Centre provided storefront space for our toy operations and the City of St. Thomas again provided space at the Memorial Arena auditorium for our registration, food and distribution operations.”
The volunteers were to be feted Thursday at a thank you lunch.
“We are anticipating close to 100 people to come and celebrate the completion of another successful campaign, which unfortunately seems to grow from year to year.”
There’s been a lot of fun raising money for some serious business.
An $8-million campaign for MRI diagnostic imaging at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital has received a $30,000 boost from the St. Thomas Railway City Rotary Club.
The donation is the payoff from several fun funders organized by the club.
“Our club raised funds for our hospital by hosting an Oktoberfest event, as well as through our partnerships with Jackpot City Gaming and Wildflowers Farm markets,” past-president Al Gardiner says. “We are grateful to everyone who participated in these events to help make this donation possible.”
Club president Dagmar Wendt says it’s an investment in the health and well-being of the community that the hospital serves.
“We are proud to support our local hospital’s efforts in acquiring MRI imaging technology. By investing in this critical equipment, we are investing in the long-term health and well-being of our entire community.”
Chaired by Jeff Yurek, the hospital’s Transforming Tomorrow campaign will bring magnetic resonance imaging technology to St. Thomas, as well as enhance and expand the entire diagnostic imaging department, with improvements to CT, nuclear medicine, X-ray and ultrasound.
And with Amazon and the new Volkswagen battery plant opening up shop in the area, demand for the department’s services are only expected to increase, the hospital says.
Lastly today, to look at the forecast for the coming few days, it hardly seems to suggest the season.
Not even the most remote possibility of a white Christmas on Monday. Not with the temperature predicted to reach 9 C!
Out the window, while there’s still a skiff of snow on the picnic table from a few days ago, it will be gone today, I’m sure. (Today being Thursday morning, when this column is written each week.)
And there are pansies still trying to bloom in the window boxes! We’re just a little bit behind on the garden, I have to admit.
All the same, as it must, winter was to arrive on our doorstep at 10:27 p.m. Thursday.
And here we are once again, looking at the end of another year.
To wish all the most happy of holidays. A Merry Christmas. A Happy and Prosperous New Year.
And this corner will return in 2024.
Stay safe.
ericbunnellspeople@gmail.com
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