Havre gets holiday treat

Alice Campbell Havre Daily News [email protected]

Lighted candy-cane ornaments will add extra cheer to the Christmas season this winter in Havre. The 21 new decorations will be placed on the new decorative lamp posts along 1st Street from Montana Avenue to 7 th Avenue, Debbi e Vandeberg, director of the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce said. But money still needs to be collected in order to finish purchasing the decorations that will cost $3,339. In order to raise the funds, empty Culligan water bottles, donated by the company, will be placed around town in businesses for collecting donations. Twenty-five of the bottles have already been distributed and more are on the way, Vandeberg said. The idea was used in 2001 to raise over $4,000 to refurbish old decorations and buy 12 new ones, and Vandeberg said she hopes the method will work again. People can put spare change in the empty bottles around Town, which will then be collected. "It'll accept dollar bills, too," Vandeberg said. The fundraising effort got a hand up Thur sday whe n Rebekahs, which supports several scholarships, the Special Olympics and many other local organizations and educational programs, donated $1,000 to the ornament drive. "Our members just thought that the streets looked so bleak" during the holiday seas o n , Re b e ka h s memb e r Delores Welter said and added that "we always try to support the local projects." With the donation, only $ 2 , 3 3 9 i s s t i l l n e e d e d , Vandeberg said. Old decorations, purchased in 1979 and then refurbished and added to in 2001, will still adorn poles on 4th, 3rd and 2nd avenues between 1st and 3rd streets, she said adding that holiday banners will go on poles from 7th Avenue east and from Montana Avenue west. The city, which took over the responsibility of hanging the ornaments from the Jaycees eight years ago, will hang the new and old ornaments and banners sometime in November, Vandeberg said. For more information, call Vandeberg at 265-4383.