Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

 

In only a few short weeks, Thanksgiving will be here, and Christmas decorations will then start popping up more and more throughout the community.

The beautiful holiday decorations purchased last year for the downtown will be installed.

Those include new decorations and flags for the light poles, decorations to span two intersections and decorations in the area of the splash pad near the North Broadway parking lot.

When a group of residents started fundraising for these lights, we had high hopes of raising money for a few more decorations, as well.

This year, we hope to raise enough money for decorations at the Fountain Lake gazebo, including garland, ribbons and lights. The decorations will not only be able to be seen from Fountain Lake Park itself but also as you’re approaching the park from around the lake.

The approximate cost to complete this part of the project is $5,000.

Our committee hosted a burger basket this past week to start raising money for this phase, and we are planning another event during the annual Holiday Bazaar scheduled for Dec. 12 downtown, where people can purchase a bulb (or bulbs) all evening until the money is raised for the project. The event runs from 4 to 7 p.m.

We will be placing donation boxes at area businesses around the community in the next few weeks, where donations can be given as well if you’re not able to make it to the Holiday Bazaar.

Donations are also still being accepted through the Albert Lea Chamber Foundation, 132 N. Broadway, Albert Lea, MN 56007. Please identify in the memo line that your donation is intended for the holiday lights.

Donations of any size will be greatly appreciated.

Though I wish we could raise funds for even more decorations, I hope we can make the city shine a little brighter with this addition.

I’d love to see the decorations eventually expand to be on trees or buildings downtown, and then continue spreading throughout some of the other main corridors in Albert Lea.

Before we bite off more than we can chew, I hope we can come together to raise money for this portion of the project.

If you’d like to get involved volunteering for our Dec. 12 event, we could always use more volunteers. Feel free to reach out to me at sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com or Sarah Nelson, another committee member, at sarah.nelson@integoinsures.com.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Albert Lea Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.