Thanks to community members that rallied in support of a small town’s most magical time of year, Leland’s holiday lights will be up sparkling and shining bright once again in November.
Much like a Christmas miracle, members of the community, whether they were Leelanau County residents or belonged to the Leland Chamber of Commerce, donated enough funds last week and over the weekend to meet the Monday deadline for securing a holiday lights display this season. Chamber of Commerce President Mark Morton said on Monday that he was still receiving monetary contributions from donors after meeting their $6,000 fundraising goal, and will be putting the excess funds into a separate account for next year’s holiday lights.
“It’s incredible how people have stepped up and I’m amazed at how beloved the lights have become. When people found out that we might not have them (lights), they wanted to make sure that we did have them and had enough money,” Morton said. “We’re all very grateful that people stepped up in a big way.”
Morton explained that due to the Leland Wine and Food Festival being canceled earlier this year, which is a huge fundraiser for the chamber that contributes to community events like the annual July fireworks and holiday lights, they had less funds than anticipated and would not be able to put up the lights without donations. Morton decided on Oct. 21 as a deadline for raising enough funds, explaining that it was an urgent situation that he did not want to leave open ended.
“It’s really quite expensive and not having the wine festival this summer — the holiday lights are one of those things that just kind of happened year after year, but we just didn’t have the money to do it,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t realize that this was another thing that chamber did for the community… It went back and forth on how we should do it, but we decided to make an appeal to the members of the chamber to see if we could get it done this year.”
The holiday lights typically turn on for the season after Thanksgiving during the “Light Up Leland” community event where people welcome Santa and watch as the firetruck heads from Christmas Tree corner to the Village Green. Lights stay on almost into February until they are taken down.
Heidi Kruse, Leelanau Children’s Center (LCC) executive director and Leland chamber member, contributed funds on behalf of LCC, and was one of the many donors to help in the last week. She said growing up in the area, she can’t remember a time when they didn’t have the Christmas Tree corner or the Village Green decorated with lights. More than just bulbs on a tree, Kruse said the lights are a constant in a fastpaced world and are a symbol of community that brings people together every year.
“It holds the community together and it’s a remembrance that through good times and bad that this community is here for one another and that it’s not something to be taken lightly,” Kruse said. “It really is the essence of the heart and soul of the community that’s been there for eachother. We’ve had community members who have needed the community and we’re here for each other. We are one of those people — We had a house fire in January as a matter of fact and the community poured out to us to help us and to get us back on our feet. I think those lights encompass that meaning of what true community is.”
To donate to the Leland Chamber of Commerce and community events they put on, people can go online to www. lelandmi.org or mail contributions to P.O. Box 741 Leland, MI 49654.
