With close to 15,000 people attending Cochrane Light Up and another 5 to 7 thousand estimated at their inaugural parade, the Light Up committee is taking a well-deserved break. "We are all looking at taking a nice break over Christmas and hoping to get together at the beginning of January and get the board named with everybody on it. Then we'll plan to start meeting with the town in February where everybody can lay out their roles."

Only one aspect of Light Up remains and that is their online auction. Due to unforeseen circumstances, shares Stephenie Shelstad, Chair of the Light Up Committee, the online Facebook auction will be held in early January. "Due to reasons beyond our control, the auction will not go live until after Christmas. We are sincerely sorry. All money raised will continue to go to Big Hill Haven, Cochrane’s women shelter."

The Light Up committee has certainly brought the Christmas spirit to Cochrane and, although hosting two large events so close together was challenging, the positive feedback has made it all worth it. "Having them back to back was a little tough. After Light Up, it was a bit of an emotional roller coaster for about a week afterward but after we started building the sleigh (for the parade) it all came back."

Debuting their first 'Parade of Lights', Shelstad was fairly happy overall with how the event turned out. "I think it well, definitely some room for improvement. We need more security on the route for sure to try and keep people back. I think the pace was good, nice and slow, so everybody got a good look at the floats and the only change would be adding more floats."

Giving credit to her entire committee, Shelstad says community members can expect to see more changes next year including an expanded footprint for both events and other surprises. "Hopefully we get a little bit bigger every year. I did talk to Trailers 24-7 and next year we're going to be doing up a package and any trailers or flat decks that she has she will lend out and rent out for the parade, and all proceeds will go back into the parade. So businesses that don't have access to a trailer will still be able to use something. As far as Light Up, we will be extending the barricade down to Centre which will include Royal Bank and Home Hardware so we can spread people out a little more."

If you would like to get involved in the planning process of Light Up 2019, Shelstad shares drop her a line at cochranelightup@gmail.com