Bredenbury shuts off its Christmas lights

Bredenbury garnered national recognition for its festive displays.

Dec. 1 will be darker than usual for Bredenbury this year, as the town’s annual Christmas lights ceremony has been cancelled.

For nearly two decades, Bredenbury's Christmas Lights Annual Extravaganza attracted visitors from far and wide to the community, which is located 30 minutes east of Yorkton.

Thousands of lights and homemade decorations – including a 16-foot Santa Claus and illuminated Ferris wheel - traditionally filled the streets and empty lots.

The town garnered national recognition for its festive displays in 2001, 2002 and 2005, when it came out on top in the Winter Lights Celebrations competition.

This past spring, however, the Christmas Lights Committee disbanded, cancelling the annual festival.

The committee’s volunteer base has dwindled, while empty lots where displays once stood have been replaced by new homes and families.

“It would have been nice if we could have kept it going, but we can’t. In a way it’s too bad I guess, but I think we have to look back and say we’ve accomplished quite a bit in the past 19 years and it was a good run,” said Fred Nicholson, a member of the Lights Committee since 1995.