Sharing Christmas cheer the safe way

If anyone had the foresight to design a holiday event under a pandemic, they couldn’t have created anything better than the Tour of Lights.

Published each year in the Chico Enterprise-Record and Oroville Mercury-Register, the list of Christmas-y, overthe-top lawns and houses is a must do for many, especially families. Travel from address to address in the safety of the car, ooh and aah, and move to the next address.

That’s another beauty of the Tour of Lights — it’s a family event. Something to see and enjoy together. Happiness for the kids no matter the age.

Living under the pandemic seems to mean doing so much apart and behind masks and shields and plastic barriers that to be together, inside your own car, doing something fun is a treat.

If anything, the pandemic has taught us to appreciate the tiny things of life a little more. Like all the work these people and their families take on every year, from the doing up to the undoing.

We want to thank all the decorators and light artists that share their talent every year. Having half a town drive by over the course of several weeks takes a patient person and patient neighbors too. We’d like to thank them as well.

Not only do the residents pay for decorations and power to light or inflate, several hand out wrapped candy canes or provide holiday music.

This year especially, every little show of cheer is huge, as is just getting out of the house and driving around.

The Chico and Oroville light lists are available on the respective newspapers’ websites at www.chicoer.com and www. orovillemr.com.

There are other events that are open to the public as well, like Glenn County’s Annual Avenue of Lights.

A festive route through the Glenn County Fairgrounds,

221 E. Yolo St., in Orland is planned from 6 to 9 p.m., that continues through Dec. 20.

The cost is $15 per car.