Christmas light show will go on
Light Up Nelson, the annual Christmas lights event, has lost its main organiser but people power will mean the show goes on.
The NZME Hits radio station usually registers participants and makes a downloadable map for people to find Christmas light displays.
This year, the station is not taking part in the event.
General sales manager for the Nelson, Blenheim and West Coast regions for NZME Kipp O’Donnell, said there had been some ‘‘internal changes’’ that meant the station would not be organising the event this year.
Bev Hollis, who has been decorating her home with lights for 14 years, only found out the event was not officially happening when she called the station to register her house on November 22.
‘‘We hadn’t heard a thing, and we were working away [on the lights] when I saw my registration number from last year, and I said to my husband; ‘Oh my God, we haven’t registered yet,’ thinking I’d forgotten,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s when I rung up, and they said, ‘Oh no, we’re not doing it’.
‘‘You go to the effort, and if no one takes the time to take your address then it’s just disappointing. We started preparing in June. We spend hundreds of hours on it.’’
Another participant, Shirley Whall, said it was ‘‘really weird’’ that there hadn’t been any communication from The Hits that they wouldn’t organise the event. When she called the station to ask about it, she was not told why it was not taking place.
‘‘We’ve all just been left in the dark,’’ she said.
O’Donnell said he wasn’t aware of any people who had trouble finding out about the station’s involvement this year.
He said a few people had contac- ted him directly, but he had not heard of any others attempting to find out more.
O’Donnell said he couldn’t give much detail for commercial reasons, but company changes that meant the station could not support the event this year.
‘‘We’ve been a proud partner for a number of years, and this year just through some internal changes that have gone on we probably don’t have the resources to do it properly this year.
‘‘That doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t be [organising the event] in the future,’’ he said.
Richmond Harcourts were sponsors of the event last year, but the general manager, Amanda James, said there wasn’t much to add.
‘‘The radio decided not to do it, and that’s where we’re at,’’ she said.
With no official website to direct people to decorated houses, Whalls and Hollis decided to make their own page, with the help of Whall’s daughter Kelly Holmes.
Holmes made an Unofficial Light Up Nelson page on Facebook ‘‘so people can share their photos and addresses’’.
In just over a week, the page has been followed by more than 700 people.
‘‘I didn’t realise it would take off like it did,’’ Holmes said.
‘‘I just think it’s a shame the Light Up Nelson wasn’t running this year.
‘‘At least the Facebook page I’ve made has helped spread the word.’’
In previous years some sponsors have organised competitions and prizes for participants, but Hollis said the competition was besides the point for most participants.
‘‘No matter how big or small you are, you just want people to come and look at your lights,’’ Hollis said.
‘‘Usually people know what website to go to, but hopefully with the Unofficial Light Up Nelson page they’ll be able to find their way.’’ See photo, page 2