Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon joins Holiday Trail of Lights

Gurdon is now a member of the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Trail of Holiday Lights and has just received grants amounting to more than $20,000 to enhance existing efforts to brighten up this city during the festive wintertime.

Tambra Childres, recorder/treasurer, announced at the Gurdon City Council meeting Monday, Aug. 16, the lighting grants came through.

She and Amy Whitworth, administrative assistant and Water Department employee, received conformation in July on lighting grants from the Horace C. Cabe Foundation for $18,000 toward new Christmas lights and $2,100 from the C. Lewis Cabe Foundation, also for more lights.

"We would like to thank the Cabe Foundations because without them none of these lighting improvements would be feasible," Childres said.

Childres said decoration efforts in Gurdon stepped up in 1998. Applications for the lights were made in April and light sets for each pole involved are here.

"We are putting them on 41 new poles and they are mostly Christmas features, such as toys, stockings, angels and snowflakes," she said. "They are colored lights, including a Toy Land scene, an animated Santa Express and an animated five-horse carousal."

Other new lighting scenes include: an animated horse and sleigh, an animated kids and Frosty, a Nativity scene, an ice skating family scene, carolers with a lamp post and some new white lights for the City Hall building.

The City Hall's efforts to get on the Trail of Holiday Lights was co-sponsored by the Gurdon Chamber of Commerce and Gurdon will appear in the 2004 Trail of Holiday Lights brochure. Childres said Michelle Anderson, contact person for the local Chamber, was instrumental in this promotion.

"To be in the brochure, you must have your lights up by Nov. 17 and keep them lit from at least 5-11 p.m. through Dec. 27," Childres said. "Ours will be on all night during that time frame."

Childres said Channel 7 will cover the Gurdon Christmas Parade live on Dec. 2, due to the Trail of Holiday Lights affiliation here.

Childres said since the Gurdon Street Department is responsible for putting up the majority of the lights, Gurdon got a 25 percent discount from Evangeline Specialists out of Lafayette, Louisiana.

Cost to the city of running the lights will be minimal, according to Childres, who said they will be on electric meters.

Entergy will supply labor for free to install receptacle boxes for each lighting set. Bobby Pilgreen, local electrician, will construct the boxes.

"Because of getting cooperation from Entergy etc., we were able to purchase $3,500 more in lights than we could have," Childres said. "South Central Arkansas Electric Co-op volunteers their time to install the actual lights themselves on the poles."

Childres said City Hall has white, ice-cycle lights available for donation to downtown businesses, on the agreement the businesses will put them up.

"As to the new lights, the Gurdon Forest Festival has been set for Saturday, Oct. 30, leaving our street department in a time crunch to get them all up on time. We may need some volunteers," she said.

Childres said the ice skating family and Nativity scene would be displayed at Gurdon City Hall.