Strathmore Community Reviews

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Celebration of Lights opening night exceeded expectations December 1, 2022 The Celebration of Lights kicked off at the Strathmore AG grounds on Saturday, November 26 with record numbers in attendance. Chair of the Celebration of Lights Committee Dave Fraser said they tripled attendance this year with well over 3,500 people for opening night. “I haven’t seen an opening night like this in a long time, the weather was great, it was relatively mild compared to what we’ve been having here this week so that helped and we advertised a fair amount, it was just a nice night for everyone to come out and enjoy being together.” The opening night got started with speeches from dignitaries, and visitors were also treated to a fireworks show presented by the Fireworks Factory that had the crowd cheering. And of course, Santa stopped by for a visit to Santa’s Cottage after his trip in the parade, along with the Hammer Hill Stables providing hayrides on site for the evening. Fraser explained there was so much community support and it made for a great experience for visitors. “Something unexpected was we had three fire trucks that show up from Wheatland County’s volunteer fire department, it was great. The kids loved it and they were blowing the horns and sirens and lights were flashing, it was really good to have them come out.” Getting the Celebration of Lights put together takes a lot of support from volunteers and the community and Fraser said one individual made an incredible difference this year in getting the actual displays ready for opening night. “I would like to mention Lukas Kost (Ag Society grounds lead hand), he really bent over backward to help us out getting set up and all the other stuff that he has to do in his day-to-day job. He made a huge difference to the success of the night.” The celebration of lights committee is made of up volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure that everything runs smoothly, not just for the opening night festivities but for the whole season. That committee includes Chair Dave Fraser, Vice-Chair Joanne Selgensen, Rusty Stromsroe, and Karri Geiger, Val Silwa, Marlene Risdon, Natalie Johnstone, Ryan Schmidt, and Lukas Kost. Fraser wanted to also thank the volunteers who came out on opening night and who continue to help nightly while the Celebration of Lights runs until January 7, expressing his thanks saying that none of this is possible without the dedication of the volunteers in the community. Along with the Celebration of Lights, the Family New year’s Eve party is coming back this year and tickets are available at Santa’s Cottage, the Ag Society office, and the Rack on 3rd. The Celebration of Lights runs every night from 6 – 9 p.m. and Santa will be on-site Friday and Saturday evenings until December 23 and Hammer Hill Stables will be providing hayrides up until New Year’s Eve ( excluding Christmas Eve). Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@strathmorenow.com