Residents in and around the town of Assiniboia look to continue a festive tradition in 2024.
On Wednesday, November 13, at 6 p.m. the Lights of Love ceremony will take place at Centennial Park in Assiniboia. For the past few weeks, lights were each sold for a ten-dollar donation to be put up before the presentation.
"People come, we say a few words, we light a few candles and sing a couple songs. Then we turn on all the lights at the same time and it's a super emotional evening," said Stephanie VanDeSype, Recreation & Community Wellness Manager in Assiniboia.
The reason for the evening being so touching is that each set of lights purchased for the ten-dollar donation is dedicated to a loved one who has passed on and is unable to be here for the holidays. The lights remain on in the park until February as this is the sixth year Lights of Love has been running.
"We've got this beautiful park that was very underutilized, and it can be dark in the wintertime. I thought what if we revive this whole space and add some lights to make it pretty," stated VanDeSype.
Every cent of the donations goes towards the lights each year as people wishing to attend the ceremony can meet north of the Kin hut in Centennial Park. The full list of names the lights are dedicated toward is below.
