SHESHEGWANING— With the idea that children look at this being a magical time of year, the Sheshegwaning First Nation community has initiated its first annual Christmas Festival of Lights.
“The whole idea is to encourage our children to view Christmas as a magical time of year filled with beauty and joy and this is only one step to instilling a sense of community pride for our residents,” stated Elizabeth Orford, a local resident who help spearhead the display of lights.
“This is the first year we have carried out this project, and we plan to add a few new light displays every year to what have started this year,” said Ms. Laford. She pointed out a large nutcracker is part of the display and community members have helped with the decorations, providing such items as Christmas balls and baskets as part of the display.
“We had several volunteers come out to help build our first light display, including Nicole and Nicolas Bush, Bill and Verna Hardwick, Sandra Sampson, Adeline Sampson, Alana Endanawas and Joseph Laford,” continued Ms. Laford. “We were grateful to have Bill Hardwick and Joseph Laford here to take the lead on building the nine foot Nutcracker which was the centre of our display. Next year we hope to have a second Nutcracker built to complete the pair, which was part of the original idea.” The display is in front of the Sheshegwaning band office.
