Holiday Avenue Project preparing for a festive winter

A festive five will be brightening up the City of Portage la Prairie this holiday season. Karen Faurschou, Bonni Houle, Byrna McDermid, Lois Hunt, and Lynn White make up the group known as the Holiday Avenue Project. 

"The Holiday Avenue Project is a group of individuals that came together to bring Christmas to Portage in a bigger way," says McDermid. "It was the brainchild in 2020 of our Co-Chair Karen Faurschou and she wanted to bring a better Christmas vibe to Portage, so we've done that Christmas 2020, Christmas 2021, and this year we're expanding our efforts."

As 22 new lamp posts have been put up in the city, each of them will feature a wreath. The group plans to continue with their regular Meridian pots, lights, and so much more. As the Saskatchewan Avenue West construction project expands, more work needs to be done.

"Well, originally, we had the planters with different pokes in them. We are the winter people so we decorate for the winter holidays," says Hunt. "We started with just Christmas, but we've expanded it to Valentine's and Saint Patrick's Day and hopefully we'll do some fall things this year. It just brings joy to people when they see the little added things and hopefully the lights will bring even more joy to Portage because lights always make people happy."

The group has been raising funds by reaching out to businesses. They have received grants from the Community Foundation of Portage and District, and United Way Central Plains. They are looking for more donations and also volunteers to help decorate this holiday season. If interested, you can reach out to the group at their Facebook page here.