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Wakamow Valley will be a winter wonderland of lights this Christmas

Over the course of three weeks, 190,000 lights were put up in the park

The lights of Christmas will be lit up and all ablaze in Wakamow Valley beginning on Dec. 6 and running through to Dec. 31.  

It’s a wonderful and festive new endeavour that Wakamow Valley Authority is initiating to showcase the beautiful park that’s right here in the midst of us.  

Although the valley is used all year round and loved by all, Todd Johnson, general manager of Moose Jaw Wakamow Valley Authority, says he wants people to be aware of what the valley has to offer during every season of the year.  

“We have started a four-season event strategy trying to get people into the park and making sure that it's safe with family activities and programs to do. We are trying to come up with strategies to use our facilities all year long," he said.

“This year we used the skating oval as a farmers’ market, whereas we have never done that before. But we have the building and the parking lot and so the strategy is to use the infrastructure we do have for every season 12 months of the year.”  

The Wakamow “Winter Wonderland Valley of Lights” is a new annual fundraiser celebrating the Christmas season. The event will take place every evening for almost the whole month of December from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., when the thousands of lights will be illuminated in the Wakamow Valley Campground. Over the course of three weeks, 190,000 lights were put up with tall ladders, extensions and a cherry picker. The LEDs came in four foot lengths so Johnson said it would make it much easier to wrap and unwrap them for the annual event.      

The public is invited to attend by taking a magical drive through the campground to enjoy the one kilometre of brightly decorated trees in support of the fundraising event. 

“We are asking people to donate $10 at the gate and drive through; we are hoping that it will be a big success!” said Johnson. Donations can be made by cash or debit when visitors come through the gate. 

Over the years, the park has served as a retreat place for many to relax and reconnect with nature. Due to COVID-19 there was a substantial drop in revenue from the rental properties and campground. 

“This is really just a fundraiser for us as we have lost a lot of substantial revenue by not being able to rent out our facilities and by not being able to do fundraisers due to COVID-19. All the money raised here will go back into operations and go back into keeping the wildlife and the rest of the park clean, safe and useable. We have a really great team, but of course, operations for the park are something difficult to fundraise for, so all the funds from this event will go to the operation of the park,” said Johnson.   

“In the wintertime, we sweep off a couple kilometres of paths so that people can take a walk.  In the summer, all kinds of different activities are offered throughout the park, such as biking, running, canoeing, and kayaking, and those types of things all (require) putting in the docks, mowing, keeping up the paths and repairing them,” he explained. 

Volunteer Harold St. Pierre, who is heading up this project, said, “We want to especially thank our team: Lorne St. Pierre, Jerry Norris, Brad Butchko, Lasha Crabbe, Blaine Stokes and Todd Johnson for working on this event and making it possible for everyone this year.” 

“We would like this to become a Christmas tradition for families and an annual event with lots of visitors and great sponsors. We are hoping that if people came to use the park for the summer or throughout the winter, that they consider visiting and making a donation that benefits the park and gives back to the community,” Johnson added.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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