Following the success of last year’s inaugural competition, the Langdon and District Chamber of Commerce is bringing back the Light Up Langdon Christmas light decorating contest this holiday season.
According to Terri Torraville, the treasurer of Langdon and District Chamber of Commerce and owner of Indus Graphics Inc., the contest was initiated by chamber representatives last year to spread holiday cheer and engage the community during a time of social distancing and gathering restrictions due to a spike in COVID-19 infections in Alberta.
“As we all know, it’s nice to have something uplifting and fun to do,” Torraville said. “[Light Up Langdon] doesn’t require you to socialize, but it still brings the community together.”
The contest tasks Langdonites with decorating their homes or businesses with abundant Christmas lights and holiday displays.
Winners in each of the competition’s categories will be awarded gift cards from local businesses and chamber members, including Tim Hortons, Buy Low Foods, and Twisted Canning, and many others.
“There’s a number of businesses in town that produce products people want to use,” Torraville said, adding the chamber hopes more businesses will take part this year. “We thought this would perhaps get people to try a business they might not normally try out.”
The contest includes multiple categories for both residential and business entries. For residential participants, prizes will be doled out to winners in the “Griswald” category for the households that go all-out with their holiday decorations this year, while the other categories include theme, best lights display, and judge’s choice.
“Sometimes there’s a display that we just feel was particularly well done, so that’s the judge’s choice,” Torraville said.
In terms of business categories, there are prizes for the best brick-and-mortar business window display as well as the best home-based business window display.
The deadline to apply is Dec. 9, and judging will take place between Dec. 10 and 15. To enter the contest, Torraville said Langdon residents are asked to send their name, phone number, address, and which category they’d like to be eligible for, to [email protected]
While she doesn’t know exactly how many people took part in last year’s contest, Torraville said it was a considerable number of Langdon’s residents and business owners, who are excited for the contest to return this holiday season.
“It took us a whole evening to drive around and look at the entries,” she said of last year's event.
“It’s just a lot of fun. Everyone really got into it last year. There were a lot of people who put up Christmas lights, and we encouraged people to drive around and look at the lights as well. It’s just an uplifting thing for the community.”
