On Tuesday, the Downtown Barrie BIA had its 35-foot Christmas tree installed by the Meridian Place stage. Workers from Drysdale’s Tree Farm were busy Wednesday morning hanging lights in anticipation of the official lighting on Saturday evening.
Drydale’s supervisor Randy Kelly was one of the workers getting the tree ready for the big day and told BarrieToday he loves what it does for the community.
“Its cold for sure today, but at the end, it is all worth it,” said Kelly. “I’ll be out of town this weekend, but one of the guys is bringing his little girls and will be watching the big lighting. It is going to be something to see, especially after all the hard work of getting it installed.”
A boom truck helped with the big job yesterday of getting the tree into its holder and a lift will allow the workers to get the string of lights to those hard-to- reach spots.
After Drysdale’s does their part, it is all up to the BIA to make the weekend festive.
BIA creative communications director Kristen Eatch told BarrieToday that last year's lighting was a special moment to her and knows it was for others as well.
“It was the highlight of my time here at the BIA. It was so amazing,” said Eatch. “When the lights came on and everybody oohed and aahed, it was such a great feeling.”
The tree this year is five feet taller than last year and is lit when the Santa Claus parade is over and Santa himself comes over and flips the switch, which is historically around 6 p.m.
Leading up to the tree lighting, there are a ton of things to do in and around the square.
Starting at noon, there will be wagon rides on Dunlop Street which will be closed off for the event. There will be a screening of Miracle on 34th Street, face-painting and free hot chocolate from Tim Hortons with the donation to the Barrie Food Bank.
