Future of Light Up remains bright

With a constant flow of people circulating through the Historic Downtown for Cochrane's premier Christmas event, it's hard to pin down how many people attended Cochrane Light Up on Nov. 25.

What is clear is the passion participants and volunteers alike continue to share for the evening. And for newcomers, it's a true testimony of the deep-rooted community spirit we're so fortunate to enjoy in Cochrane.

Estimates range from 10,000 to 20,000 people and it likely fell somewhere in between. What was important was how organizers were ready with enough hot dogs, hot chocolate, and bags of chips for the three-hour display of proud Cochrane community spirit.

It's a brand new committee with Chris Heier at the helm, and over 60 volunteers stepped forward to help.

"The volunteers and the organizing committee that we had, I can't thank them enough for the work that they did. The goal of an event organizer is to have nothing to do the night of the event, despite all of the challenges leading up to it."

Light Up chair and reindeer Chris Heier beside the tank carrying 3,000 litres of hot chocolate.

"The fact that I showed up in a reindeer costume and nobody necessarily told me to do anything meant, alright, I can have fun, and do something a little different and outside of what everybody's expectations were. For that, I'm infinitely thankful."

There was an ample supply of the free giveaways that are a big part of the evening. Heier says they purchased 12,000 hot dogs, prepared 3,000 litres of hot chocolate, and 14,000 bags of chips.

Heier and his committee took a chance on an idea he had on how to ensure there was a steady supply of hot chocolate available. Utilizing a kettle at Half Hitch Brewing (he's president), a 4,300-litre tank from Steelhead Ventures, and a supply of hot chocolate mix from Tim Horton's, they were able to prepare enough for the evening. A crew of six to eight people worked steadily all night refilling the insulated dispensers throughout downtown.

"I don't think there's been a Cochrane Light Up where you've been able to have a hot dog and hot chocolate all the way to the end of the event. One or both, usually hot chocolate tends to run out first, and hot dogs maybe later, but the fact that we were able to distribute and manage the availability of both through the entire night was quite impressive."

Dr. Greg Barnett has been a proud sponsor of Light Up since 2013. Besides their delicious dogs, they dress in the spirit of the day and always have unique additional giveaways. This year, they had "Snowflake" glasses that magically created snowflake images from every bright point of light you look at.

Barnett came on board when Stephenie Shelstad and Marni Fedeyko laid the groundwork for what Light Up has become today.

"It's so huge now, even looking back, it attracts thousands of people," says Dr. Barnett. "It's such a great community event."

Dr. Greg Barnett and his crew have been a mainstay of Light Up for a decade.

You can expect the orthodontist and his crew to be back for the foreseeable future.

"Everyone likes dressing up and setting up and seeing all the patients come through. It's great."

Getting a hot dog from their stand was current Cochrane Lions Rodeo Queen Riley Larsen.

Cochrane Lions Rodeo Queen Riley Larsen getting ready to add garnishes to her first hot dog of the night.

"This is my first hot dog of the night and so far so good," says Riley. She's been to Light Up before but admits it's been a few years. 

Queen Riley has been here before but admits it's been a few years.

"This is a phenomenal turnout. I can't remember the size of the crowds before but it's absolutely amazing."

"You come, you eat hot dogs, you drink hot chocolate, hang out with the beautiful energy of this town, and stop in at all the fun little shops," says former rodeo queen Breanna Correia, who was attending her fourth Light Up. "It's got everything. Bow Valley and some shopping, you can't go wrong with that."

She says she'll be back again.

"The community isn't getting rid of me anytime soon. I love it too much."

Helping disperse the hot chocolate was Navjot Singh, who moved to Cochrane earlier this year, and like his brother Paul, a long-time Cochrane resident, he has stepped up to lend a hand.

"It's my first Light Up and it's a pleasure meeting and greeting people, and I'm happy to be giving back to the community. People are enjoying it, and I'm joining them."

Sellwood Selects Nick Mclure and Kai Hundey.

Nick McLure was part of the team of volunteers from the Sellwood Selects U18 team that was back to help again this year. Now 16, he has been coming every year since he was a young kid. 

"We did it last year with the same group of guys. It's a lot of fun," he says.

Last year, he says they dispersed 300 hot dogs and were hoping to break that record this year.

Teammate Kai Hundey, 15, has enjoyed previously and is now a part of the Sellwood Selects volunteer crew.

"We get to experience working with the community, but it's also fun to see what everyone else is doing."

Besides dogs, the players were seen throughout the Historic Downtown giving away chips and candy canes.

Heier says they've had a great working relationship with the town staff and fire services, who have been very accommodating.

That included opening The Station for the night and allowing the fireworks to be blasted from its grounds to end the event.

Dan (Roy) and Ken (Goosen) did a fantastic job of choreographing that pyrotechnic show. It was amazing that the town allowed us to have it in such a great location and to have Dan and Ken give them the level of comfort they needed to do what they did, and where they did it. So I'm really happy with how it went."

Heier says it was a great first time around for the new committee and they're now doing a breakdown and have been receiving public feedback.

"We've been getting some great feedback, and I've had some back and forth with some people. Fortunately, there haven't been a lot of unproductive thoughts."

"Now that we've got that under our belt, we've got a full year coming into next year's event to make things bigger and better."

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