Charlotte Varcoe
IT IS beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in Mount Gambier with the annual city decorations being installed along Commercial Street recently.
The decorations range from street lamp stars and tinsel all the way to the large Christmas tree centred outside Town Hall.
Decorated by the Lions Club Blue Lake City Lioness Club each year, the mammoth tree will once again be lit up each night leading up to the festive season.
Wynne Turner from the club said there were additional decorations for the tree this year with volunteers once again enjoying the activity.
“We don’t typically plan ahead for how to set out the tree,” Ms Turner said.
“We do plan the colour scheme which is usually traditional such as green and gold and we also make sure the tree is not too unbalanced as well and we like to make sure the colours are well spread out.”
The operation took the volunteers a small number of hours to complete with assistance from council workers to polish to the top of the tree.
“We tell the council workers where we want the decorations for the top and they use the cherry picker to put them up,” Ms Turner said.
“They are fantastic at getting it right and we think the decorations are a really good discussion point too and look lovely in front of the old buildings.
“It is good to get out and do service work and not just raise funds and we all enjoy decorating the tree each year as well.”
Mount Gambier City Council Mayor Lynette Martin congratulated the volunteers on another year’s work stating the tree looked as wonderful as ever.
“I think having the Christmas decorations up is very exciting given that 2021 has been another challenging year for our community between business and residents,” Ms Martin said.
“To see our streets being decorated it really lifts the spirits and I encourage all our community members to look at shopping locally in this area.
“Due to Covid-19 restrictions, it has not been easy for our businesses and community and we must remember these businesses support our community in many ways throughout the year.”
Ms Martin also thanked the volunteers for decorating the town’s Christmas tree once again and said the town hall looked amazing during the festive season.
Lioness volunteers will also be participating in the annual Christmas gift-wrapping fundraiser in the coming months and will continue to sell both Christmas raffle tickets and cake.
