Harbour Grace council hoping to hold onto Christmas lights

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Olivia Bradbury

The annual Christmas lights that decorate the Spirit of Harbour Grace Park and the town’s boardwalk are in danger of disappearing if improvements are not made to the electrical system.

At the September 14 council meeting, councillor Lee Rogers gave a report on behalf of the Town’s beautification committee. He said committee members are unsure they can continue displaying the holiday lights due to problems with the electrical system.

“These ladies and gentlemen put hours and hours of their time into it last year only to have to be running back and forth every second day to flip trip breakers, run extension cords from this thing to another thing to try to keep everything lit up,” said Rogers. “It’s unfortunate, but I do know that if stuff doesn’t get straightened away with it this year, they will not be putting their time back into it.”

Deputy Mayor Gary Baker asked Mayor Terry Barnes if an estimate had ever been done on upgrading the electrical system around the boardwalk and park. Barnes replied that there had not.

“It’s a shame that they would bow out because they put in a tremendous amount of time over the years into it,” said Baker.

Councillor Christina Hearn said the decorations draw a lot of attention.

Rogers reckoned that as the electrical system is located close to the ocean, the elements have likely affected it.

“I don’t think it would be a huge job to change it,” said Rogers. “Get an electrician there for a day or something like that to have a look at it. But it would be a shame to see it go by the wayside because they do such great work.”