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Community cooperation makes it happen

Christmas is coming and the Virden community is getting ready to celebrate the Season with a Very Virden Christmas.
Let it snow
One of many Virden yard decorations in 2020, celebrating the Season.

Christmas is coming and the Virden community is getting ready to celebrate the Season with a Very Virden Christmas. The 2021 celebration plans show a strong comeback after the Covid prohibition, the final straw to thwart community Christmas plans last year.

Virden business owner and Boost member Tiffany Cameron has spearheaded an effort through the Virden Boost Committee to bring people together and create A Very Virden Christmas.  

Cameron says, “I remember the years when we had so many things. The Chamber of Commerce did downtown bucks, there was a light-up tree, Santa breakfast and kids movie … so many things happening and of course last year, that was down to nothing. We saw a need to bring some of those things back or some of them might be gone forever.”

While a number of details are a little uncertain just yet, Virden Boost Committee and the Very Virden Christmas group are preparing to make Virden a centre filled with the feeling of Christmas. Given the uncertainty with health orders, early planning has been limited, nevertheless, the committee was thinking ahead.

To be ready for the winter feature, early on the Boost committee created some room in their budget particularly for advertising the events of A Very Virden Christmas.

Cameron, who’s on contract as the economic development officer for the RM of Wallace-Woodworth, has teamed up with Virden’s Economic Development Manager Liza Park (Cameron volunteers on Virden Boost Committee) to get A Very Virden Christmas off the ground.

Others in the business community are helping out: Manager of Sunrise Credit Union, Shanda Rolf and public relations for Valleyview Co-op Amber Vandale are assisting with promotion, while Clayton Murray is doing some footwork with downtown merchants to create a Christmas shopping plan. There will be weekly evening shopping, planned to begin on Nov. 26.

With some innovative thinking, there’s hopes for a parade, in cooperation with parade marshal Herb Warkentin.

The Virden Baptist Church let the committee know they have a Christmas Party planned.

Last year, Virden had its first outdoor skating oval. Ryan Hayden, a member of the Wallace District Fire Department, took the initiative to create the oval at the Farmer’s Market. There are plans to create that again this year, along with Crocicurl, an outdoor ice game that Laurel Lamb introduced to Virden last year. These events are subject to the weather, but there’s an appetite to get going with some pre-Christmas events.

Then there’s the matter of Christmas décor and lights. “We’re hoping that if we can get some spirit going, some excitement, that we can get both the town and the community maybe on a bit of a mission to upgrade our Christmas look,” says Cameron. “Our decorations are a little bit old. There hasn’t been a budget line created for that yet, but we’re hoping we can start that, and get some new Christmas stuff.

The Christmas light show could shine brighter than ever also with a contest for homes and businesses.

A four-week Very Virden Christmas radio promo will run on two radio stations where businesses will be featured. The businesses will be included in this by donating a $50 gift card to a prize pack of gift cards. The winner will have a great shopping spree in Virden.

There are a few other Seasonal items on the back burner as well, so watch for updates.

If you have ideas or an activity that you’d like to link with A Very Virden Christmas, get in touch with the organizers. Cameron says, “We’re asking everybody to let us know by Nov. 1 what activities we need to include.”

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