FERGUS – With broken bulbs and rust breaking through chipped paint, it was time to toss or fix the halo lights adorning lightposts throughout downtown Fergus every Christmas season.
Wellington County councillor and downtown business owner Mary Lloyd reached out to Jamie Hiller at welding and fabrication shop H&R Machine for help.
Hiller tapped his industry contacts to sandblast the ornaments down to raw metal, add a powder coat, and a fresh layer of green paint.
Bruce Lloyd, Mary’s husband, recruited six Fergus Kinsmen Club volunteers to help remove broken bulbs and cracked wiring, alongside local politicians and business owners.
For about a week at the end of November, volunteers worked at Hiller’s shop installing new lighting, purchased by the Fergus BIA, with over 2,000 zip ties.
“I mean when you look at them, you go, ‘yeah, okay, they’re there,’ but they’re fastened every six inches with a twist-tie,” Bruce said.
There are 44 halo lights mounted on lightposts by Centre Wellington Hydro, but none on posts heading into the downtown core from St. David Street because of construction along the road, Mary said. It’s an area the BIA wants to light up next year to make it feel like drivers are heading into a “Christmas area,” Mary added.
She said without Hiller, the pieces would have ended up in the trash.
Hiller said new pieces would have cost upwards of $600 each — more than $26,000 for the entire job.
Not counting new lights, Hiller said the cost came in around $900 to keep the decorations around for another couple decades.
“Downtown is the heart of the town,” he said.
“Tis’ the season to be jolly.”
