The Village of North Portal announced their now-traditional Christmas contest Light up North Portal last week.
Lindsay Arnold with the North Portal administration said that it's their third year organizing the village-wide contest. Every time they try to do something new to make it more interesting for the community.
"We've done the competition a few different ways. (This year) we have a people's choice award, and then a draw. So if you have any kind of Christmas lights on your house at all, you can enter your name to win a prize," said Arnold.
For those who are really going an extra mile in decorating their places, the administration decided to run the people's choice award, in which other community members can put in their votes, choosing the best show. To vote or enter their names in the draw, people can send their choices by messaging the Village of North Portal on Facebook, emailing them or calling the village office.
"Everybody in North Portal is considered eligible (to participate in the draw). As long as you have some Christmas lights up on the outside of your home, you can enter the draw. And you can vote for whomever you want for people's choice," Arnold added.
She also pointed out that as early as the first days of December, there were a few obvious contenders for the people's choice award.
"It's fun to see each year how different households decide to take on the contest," Arnold said.
It's not the first time running the contest for the administration, and Arnold noticed that from year to year some people improve their lights display during the Christmas season.
"In year two, one particular person really stepped it up. He has a huge pine tree in his front yard, and he actually lit the whole tree. It's quite impressive. So I think it raises the bar for people, and I walked around town and I've seen some additional lights this year," Arnold said.
The contest is on until Dec. 16. The administration will calculate the votes and do the draw during their last 2020 council meeting. The people's choice award winner will receive a $100 Canadian Tire gift certificate, and the draw winner will take home a gift card to Michael's Coffee Shop and Bakery.
The Village of North Portal usually has a few community events throughout the year, but most of them were cancelled due to the pandemic, including the CP Holiday Train stop and their annual potluck, which has been held for over 20 years. So the light contest was a safe and fun way to get people engaged this time of the year.
"We wanted to keep doing the Light up North Portal this year because we won't be doing our potluck, and of course the Holiday Train won't be coming through town. So this year I think people just have to focus on what they can do, and not what they can't do. Hopefully, everybody puts a little extra effort into their light show this year," Arnold said.
