December 10, 2002 Student
News
Northern Lights
-- Preston Displays Brighten the Holiday
From the Utah Statesman
(12/6/02)
 The
spirit of Christmas is alive, thriving and shining its beacon
of light in Preston.
Every holiday season, the city holds its Festival of Lights,
encouraging businesses and houses around town to decorate their
buildings with lights for the holidays.
While countless houses and businesses hang their lights for
decoration, Fairview residents Joe and Julie Hickle create Christmas
lights for a living. The Hickles run Creative Wire Art, a small
company that can make anything out of Christmas lights.
"We've been in business about seven years, and we've built
everything you see here," Joe said about the light designs
displayed in the Preston City Park. "It's a wintertime
job."
Christmas lights are more than just a job for the Hickles however;
it is a passion and an art.
"If I didn't enjoy doing this, I would not  be
here," Joe said. "I just enjoy making things out of
light. I love to take a display and make something out of it
-- make skaters and have people recognize it."
Julie said, "I'd like to make this my living, make it
my life."
The Hickles said that ultimately they would like the lights
in the Preston City Park to equal that of the lights in Ogden's
City Park, but they are thrilled with the level of Christmas
spirit displayed in Preston.
"The community is awesome. It's incredible what it takes
to pull this thing off," Joe said.
 Nancy
Jensen, chairwoman of the festival committee, said the best
part of working with the festival was meeting and working with
new people and taking part in a tradition the community loves
and embraces.
"When people work for something, then it becomes dear
to them," Jensen said.
Joe said the work that goes into the production of the festival
is one of the most tremendous aspects of the event.
"The city is amazing; they spend hours and hours just
hanging things up," Joe said. "They've got hundreds
of cords strung all over the place that need constant maintenance."
The maintenance resembles the common household dilemma of one
defective light destroying an entire strand of lights.
"Lights are lights. It's not foolproof -- they are going
to go out," Joe said.
Joe said he spends many hours testing lights and discovering
which ones are working and which ones require replacement. One
might assume Joe is crazy for taking on this monstrous task
with tens of thousands of lights.
"You'd have to be a little crazy to want to do this,"
he said.
Joe said he would like to see the festival expand in the future
but is very happy with where it is right now.
"Of course I'd love it if Richmond or Smithfield or some
other town wanted to have something like Preston has, but you
have to have the spirit of Christmas in your town for that to
happen," he said.
Throughout the project, those involved have discovered the
task is much greater than hanging a few lights under a rain
gutter.
"It really is a lot more work than I thought it would
be," Jensen said.
Jensen said that within the festival committee there are a
number of sub-committees dealing with everything from lights
and activities to production and advertising.
The activities surrounding the festival have been highlights
of the holiday season, Jensen said.
"We had the festival feast, which is a prime-rib candlelight
dinner, as our primary fundraiser in November," Jensen
said.
She also mentioned the annual Lamplighter Award as one of the
highlights. The award honors a prominent member of the community
and was selected with this year's "volunteers lighting
the community" theme in mind.
"People in the community are nominated and then a selection
committee chooses one," Jensen said.
This year's Lamplighters were Doug and Sandra Webb of Preston.
"They were awarded because of the volunteerism they have
done for the community throughout the years, and looking through
the nominations this year, that is what we looked for,"
Jensen said.
Other activities surrounding the festival included a light
parade, various entertainment and bed races, where beds with
wheels are raced down the street.
Jensen encouraged Utah State University students to participate
in the bed races in future years.
"We always have bed races, and it would be a lot of fun
for a college student to get a team together and participate
in the bed races," Jensen said. "If at all possible
they [college students] should just cross off the Saturday after
Thanksgiving every year and come up to Preston."
While many people attend the festival every year, the fact
the festival is free leaves those involved with the production
to seek funding elsewhere. Free electricity helps the production
tremendously however, Joe said. The power is donated by Utah
Power and Light and Preston offers the city free power to light
its buildings, he said.
In the end, when all the struggles of putting the production
together and getting it financed have been solved, the hardest
part of the event could be clowns, Joe said.
"You can make a Santa Claus [light design], and if his
beard is a little to the left, no one will notice it, but Ronald
McDonald had to look like Ronald McDonald," Joe said regarding
a light sculpture made for the Preston McDonald's restaurant.
Julie said her husband did a good job with the sculpture and
that even the local Ronald McDonald liked his design.
"Even Ronald was pretty amazed with it," she said.
The festival continues through Christmas, with entertainment
provided at different venues around Preston.
"Come look at a town that still has Christmas spirit,"
Joe said. "Come find a town that still loves Christmas
like it should be."
By Tyler Riggs; str@cc.usu.edu
Photos by John Zsiray
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