Golden Lake – The first Christmas Tree lighting in the village was by all measures a huge success, attracting a crowd of about 150, including St. Nick himself.

“I’m 84 and I have never seen the tree lit here before, so I had to come,” Elaine (Knuth) Mundt noted. “It’s wonderful to see so many people here.”

The tree lighting, held Saturday at dusk, saw people of all ages coming together, some to see Santa Claus who came riding in on the sparkling new fire truck and others just to enjoy some camaraderie, hot chocolate and a chat with neighbours around the bonfire as they awaited the lighting of the huge spruce tree.  Located between the fire hall and the township community centre/post office, the tree overlooks Highway 60 and is a focal point in the village centre.

Totally volunteer driven, everything was donated for the event, from the treat bags for the kids, to the lights on the tree to the cronuts and hot chocolate served for participants. A very dapper Santa donated his time and local musician Julie Larocque donated her time to sing carols. There was also strong support from the North Algona Wilberforce Fire Department, whose members kept the bonfire going and gave Santa a ride in what was the inaugural ride for the new truck.

In keeping with the spirit of giving, there was also a donation station for the food bank and people not only gave non-perishable goods but also cash or cheque donations.

Amanda Welk of the Cottage Cup had been wanting to have a tree lighting for several years. From her business she can see the large tree and felt it would be an ideal Christmas tree for the village and community.

“I started thinking about this pre-COVID and then last year I talked to Val (Champ, wife of Fire Chief Kevin Champ) about it and she jumped on board, so this year we were able to make it happen,” she said.

The two women became good friends when Mrs. Champ was spending a lot of time working at the fire hall in Golden Lake. She was doing the tiling and painting and would come over to get a latte.

“And Val really got behind this,” Mrs. Welk said. “She donated all the lights and even went to Bank Street last week in Ottawa to get the right lights because she could not find anymore locally.”

Cottage Cup donated the snacks and their ever-popular cronuts – a croissant crust fried like a donut – as well as hot chocolate and coffee were very popular with a long line up waiting for a tree and warm drink.

“We made 136 cronuts and not everyone took one and I had planned for 120 hot chocolates and we had to get more, so easily there were 150 people there,” she said. “And there was very good feedback from everyone.

“I was so happy,” she said of the event. “I had no idea what to anticipate and it was just great.”

Mrs. Champ could not contain her smile either as she handed out treat bags to the children who came. When asked where the treat bags came from, she said it was all donations, but it was clear she had thrown a lot of energy into this project.

“We started planning this week six weeks ago and I was going all over to get the lights,” she said. “We had no budget.”

When it came time to putting the lights on the large tree, she was the one in the bucket, which was donated by Pembroke Crane. She also made the large star which sits atop the tree.

Both women are committed to doing the event again next year and perhaps tweaking things a bit. Mrs. Champ wants to get some more Christmas lights and Mrs. Welk is hoping for some better lighting and perhaps a better PA system for the sound, which this year was affected by the cold. They are also very grateful so many people donated and supported the event and helped make their dream a reality.