L to R: Cyndi Vos, Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen and Emily Chong in front of the Christmas tree at City Hall on Dec. 6, 2021. (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Christmas tree lit at Lethbridge City Hall

Dec 6, 2021 | 11:25 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Holiday spirit has filled Lethbridge City Hall.

Mayor Blaine Hyggen, the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce’s CEO Cyndi Vos and the Downtown BRZ’s Marketing Coordinator Emily Chong lit up the Christmas tree in the foyer of City Hall Monday morning.

Mayor Hyggen said, “I know a lot of staff at City Hall, as well as those who come here regularly, really missed having this type of holiday spirit in-person.”

The mayor gave kudos to all city staff who helped decorate City Hall with a variety of Christmas decorations.

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He said, “I know the pandemic has been especially difficult on small business owners.”

“I encourage people to shop local and support local where possible.”

The Christmas tree at City Hall. (Lethbridge News Now)

Hyggen also sent out a reminder of the Mayor’s Community Hockey Challenge, set for December 18.

READ MORE: Community coming together through December 18 Hockey Challenge

SPEND LOCAL

In addition to lighting the tree, Cyndi Vos discussed the Chamber’s #SpendLocal campaign, in which residents can obtain $100 in gift cards to various local businesses. She explained that the program first started out as including $12,000 worth of gift cards but has increased to $18,000.

Vos said, “we are going to local retail, anything that you can spend local – whether it’s retail, hospitality, any of those sorts of initiatives, because we want people to go test out different stores that they hadn’t thought about before throughout our entire city and then go have a coffee or go have a lunch and then really experience all the wonderful things we have within our city.”

She added that the pandemic has been difficult for many businesses, so lighting the Christmas tree at City Hall also served as a beacon of hope.

“They [business owners] do see hope, they do like that people are out and about, and they like that people are feeling comfortable and confident to come back into their business, so I think the season always gives that confidence, and so hopefully we can maintain that.”

Some of the decorations set up at Lethbridge City Hall. (Lethbridge News Now)

Vos said the gift cards are distributed in $25 increments, so people can pick up to four.

She said that, “they’re going to four different local businesses to spend that money and hopefully spend a little bit more.”

“We’re just showing [that] business can move forward and is moving forward in this time that we’re all experiencing.”

FREE PARKING FRIDAY

Emily Chong with the Downtown BRZ said to encourage shopping local, parking in the downtown core has been made free every Friday leading up to and including December 24, 2021.

She added that, “we also have our downtown ambassadors hitting the streets this year. They’re handing out gift cards.”

“There is so much to explore and so much to do, so we hope to see everybody in downtown Lethbridge this holiday season.”

More details on the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce are available here, and more information on the Downtown BRZ are here.