Scott Swanson
Picture a downtown lighted to the nines, so spectacular that people from throughout the Mid-Valley region make a point to drive through Sweet Home to see it.
Picture neighborhoods similarly decorated, so people want to drive through them to see and appreciate the displays devised by local residents to brighten up the season.
That’s the vision of Jim and Lisa Gourley and others, who are encouraging local businesses and residents to shake off their COVID blues and engage in a community decoration effort that would create that kind of attraction to Sweet Home.
Lisa Gourley, who serves on the City Council, said she and her husband, a former mayor, got the idea while they were driving into town recently and discussing how people were feeling the blues – “post-election, COVID for a very long time now, economic struggles, a lot of people having a hard time.”
“We were talking about how we really need something to lift everybody’s spirits,” she said. “The best way to achieve that is to light up the community.”
“The next thought that came into my head was, ‘Sweet Home can do anything,’” Jim Gourley said.
They talked with the Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce, which agreed to run a lights contest.
The goal, the Gourleys said, is to get every building in the downtown lit, then encourage neighborhood residents to follow suit.
“We have people who always stand up and do a great job,” Lisa Gourley said. “If everybody pulls together, Sweet Home will be a happier place to be.”
She noted how many Sweet Home residents in the past have driven to Corvallis to see the Pastega Christmas Lights Display there before it was discontinued.
“If they were willing to go to Corvallis to see that, certainly they would drive the streets of town,” she said.
Jim Gourley said two meetings have been held at the chamber to organize the effort, which Chamber Office Manager Melody Jordan-Reese said will include a contest sponsored in part by local realtors.
“We weren’t able to have the parade,” she said. “It’s officially not happening. We still want to do something for the community, bring some holiday cheer to Sweet Home. That’s why we are encouraging businesses and the neighborhoods.”
Contest entrants will be charged a $10 fee or can donate 10 cans of food, which will go to SHEM.
The contest will have two winners, one getting a wood yard-ornament People’s Choice Award for the display judged the best by the greatest number of the general public, and the other a Realtors’ Choice Award, judged by a group of real estate firms that have donated $300 worth of gift cards, she said.
Jordan-Reese said participants in the decorating contest will be included on a map that people can use to visit displays, then vote online.
There is no specific target date for getting lights up, she said, but judging will take place Dec. 20, and winners will be announced Dec. 21.
“We don’t have a real target date,” Jordan-Reese said, but she noted that the general public probably won’t be waiting until Dec. 20 to go look at lights.
“We don’t want people to be discouraged when they go see lights, so the sooner the lights go up, the more chance you have of winning,” she pointed out.
Businesses the Gourleys have spoken to have been “immediately excited by the prospect,” Lisa Gourley said. “They’re feeling it too.”
Volunteers are needed, Jordan-Reese said, to do window painting, hang lights, wreaths and ornaments, and help any businesses that need assistance in decorating. She said teams of volunteers will be limited to six and will be required to “stay safe and follow guidelines.” To volunteer, contact the chamber at (541) 367-6186.
Jim Gourley said anyone lacking expertise or equipment to put up lights and decorations should contact the chamber.
“If you need help, we will try to get volunteers to help you get lights up, paint windows, do what’s necessary to give Sweet Home a little bit of a facelift,” he said. “We want to get buildings downtown that are vacant, maybe get those windows painted, garlands put up to make them more attractive for the holidays.
“We can do a lot to our town.”
He said he plans to go door to door in the downtown to personally invite people to be involved.
“I want to make sure everybody in town is familiar with this project.”
Adding to the potential for drawing a crowd, the Sweet Home Alumni Foundation will hold its annual Trees for Scholars Christmas tree auction this year, but it will hold it online instead of live in the high school cafeteria, as it has since 1996.
This year, trees for sale will be available for viewing Dec. 2-5 in businesses throughout Sweet Home. Trees are donated by local businesses and decorated by local crafters. Information about the auction and location of trees will be posted at http://www.facebook.com/SHAFTreesForScholars.
Also, the 101 4- by 8-foot Christmas cards that have been created since 2013 are available for posting around town. Anyone – a business or a private residence – interested in hosting one or more cards is asked to contact Cassie Ritchie at (541) 818-0079.
Lisa Gourley said she’d like to see churches get involved, putting together nativity scenes as well.
She acknowledged that time is running short, but she said this year’s efforts could be a start toward bigger and better things in coming years.
“Most people take a full year to do this,” she said. “It’s not that we have to have everything perfect. If we just do a little extra, do what we can, we have some amazing people. I think turning them loose this year, next year we’re going to be able to build on this.”
Jim Gourley noted that the point is to think about something pleasant, to raise spirits.
“This will give us little bit of smile when people come into town. It will turn 2020 around a little bit, make ‘Home for the Holidays’ mean something this year.”
“We don’t have to give up everything,” Lisa Gourley said. “We just have to be more creative in how we do it.”
For more information, or inspiration, contact the chamber at (541) 367-6186 or Jim Gourley at (541) 206-9544.