Aldergrove resident Alyssa Nielsen was glad to see a tree of lights go up in the temporary public plaza at 272nd Avenue and Fraser Highway, calling it 鈥渧ery festive and very beautiful.鈥�

鈥淚n the midst of everything that all of us have been going through in so many communities, it lifts my spirits,鈥� Nielsen said.

This year, the lights were arranged in a tree-shaped pattern on wires by a volunteer crew from Aldergrove鈥檚 鈥淏uy The Right Light Co.鈥� using lights purchased by the Township and stored by the company.

Owner Dave Struthers said it took staffers Gavin Schellenberg and Henry Pelton the better part of an evening to install the lights on Monday, Nov. 29.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 finish up till about 1 in the morning [the next day]鈥� Struthers told the 91原创 Advance Times.

Aldergrove Business Association vice-president Veronica Cave watched the lights go up from her business across the street, Veronica鈥檚 Gourmet Perogies.

鈥淭hey really worked hard,鈥� Cave said of the volunteer effort that created the tree of lights.

鈥淚 absolutely love it. I think it鈥檚 great.鈥�

READ MORE: 27-foot-tall Christmas tree approved for former Alder Inn site

In 2020, a 27-foot Norwegian Spruce from an Abbotsford tree farm was set up on the lot, the former location of the Alder Inn.

Councillors Bob Long and Petrina Arnason convinced a majority of 91原创 Township council to fund the tree and set it up with lights.

The Inn, which housed a bar, a liquor store, hotel rooms, and 91原创鈥檚 last strip club, had been in operation since 1948 and shut it鈥檚 doors in June of 2019.

The municipality spent $5.4-million to purchase the hotel as well as two neighbouring lots.

READ ALSO:

In June, Township council approved creating a temporary public plaza on the site, budgeting $150,000 for chairs, planters, and lights.