Ian D. Thompson, U.E.- Modern Memories (November 23, 2016)
With Light Up Night and Christmas in Caledonia events coming this week, it's an exciting time for local children- but is there as much excitement as there was in the 1990s when I was growing up in Caledonia?
We knew that Christmas was coming when Olive-the-other-Reindeer (Carolyn Humenik) made her annual visits to the elementary schools in Caledonia. At Notre Dame, the school would pack into the gymnasium where we would sit cross-legged on the floor to sing some Christmas Carols (with lyrics on overhead projectors) and hear about Olive's plans for the Light-Up festivities. We all left the gym with smiles on our faces, colouring contest pages in hand, and carols stuck in our heads.
Light Up Night was always on a Thursday. My earliest Light Up Night memory was of the ceremony at the Caledonia Mill. It was the days before the fancy light display, likely around 1997. That year, there were icicle lights on the various roof-lines of the Mill, and Olive was quick to draw out our "ooh's and aahs" as the switch was thrown on the lights. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there (John & Ann McGrinder), riding in on a fire truck. It was a true light-up because there was control of when all the lights would come on- something that, unfortunately, doesn't exist today. Once the lights were lit, we paraded down Forfar street towards the downtown. It was always a thrill to walk across the road-section of the Bridge rather than the sidewalk.
Most of the stores downtown were open. Scotiabank had hot-chocolate and cookies, Jones Bakery was bustling as always, The Coach House & Home N' Hearth had special sales, the Sachem had subscription giveaways and refreshments, but all the fun was up at the train station where Santa was waiting. Vickie Peart was out in the frigid cold with some farm animals at a small petting zoo outside the station setup by the Agricultural Society.
The lights downtown were large wreaths with big red bows. They had big, clear, incandescent lights- some of them were so high up on telephone poles that they looked small while in reality they were quite large. We always laughed that there were only five or six wreaths on the south side of the river. That year the bridge was lit up- there were small wreaths on the light standards, but there were also incandescent lights fixed along the arches of the bridge- placed there by Don Smith and the BIA. These were always inevitably smashed, and after attempts with rope-lighting, and other equipment, the idea was abandoned. There were garlands with huge wreaths at their centres stretched across the entrances to downtown from Argyle St., and Caithness St. E. & W.
Before my time, the street decorations were metal silhouettes with coloured tinsel wrapping in various Christmas shapes. They had been purchased through fundraising in 1979 with Chester Martindale spearheading the project. These decorations were used until 1997 when the wreaths were built by volunteers. Barbara Martindale and various Chamber of Commerce volunteers worked to create the wreaths. In 2008 I joined the Chamber's Christmas in Caledonia Committee- it was then that I realized how much work the wreaths required. A group of about 10 volunteers spent two Saturdays 'fluffing' the garlands to ensure that they didn't look flat when taken up on the poles. Around 2009 we replaced the incandescent bulbs with new strands of multi-coloured and clear LED lights. Most of the clear lights needed replacement again a year later. We fitted new bows to the wreaths (made by Pauline Blaine) in 2010.
Carolyn Humenik used to call the smaller wreaths on the bridge 'timbits' and so we purchased new metal silhouette decorations of green trees, and yellow stars. They were only put up for one season; the last time decorations adorned the bridge was in 2011.
In 2012 the Special Projects crew built new custom snowflakes, these completely replaced the wreaths in 2013. Most wreaths were sold to Cayuga and Jarvis, but several were dismantled and scrapped.
Since the 1990s, the family shops have been replaced with franchise stores who start Christmas promotion even before Remembrance Day, Olive the Other Reindeer has retired, the bridge is no longer decorated, the colourful wreaths and bows are gone. When I walk through Downtown Caledonia I can remember the Christmas spirit that used to envelop the town each November and fond memories ensue.
What are your Light Up Night memories?
