Thanks to a Neighbourhood Small Grant from the Parksville-Qualicum Community Foundation, we were able to start what we hope becomes a new neighbourhood tradition: a Luminary Walk on Christmas Eve! It was an amazing opportunity to immerse ourselves in the community of Hermitage Park, through meeting neighbours and a shared holiday spirit and excitement about a magical evening.
We ran into challenges along the way that forced us to rethink certain elements of the plan and figure out how to make it work with a limited budget. For example, making the switch from regular tealights to LED tealights was more expensive and resulted in fewer lights overall, but in the end, it worked out well, as it was quite a damp evening.
My family and I worked together to assemble 120 luminary kits, each including supplies for residents to put out luminaries.
As we dropped off the kits at each house, we were able to chat with a few people who were home. The response was immediately positive. After neighbours received their kits, our newly created Facebook group lit up with even more enthusiasm about the event.
It was simple and beautiful: neighbours placed LED tealights in paper bags outside their homes to create a glowing path throughout the Hermitage Park neighbourhood. Bags were set up at 5 pm, and stayed to be viewed and enjoyed until 10 pm.
We all enjoyed a magical evening walk when everyone had them set out! Families walked through the neighbourhood, and a few people from outside the neighbourhood came to drive through.
The grant supplied 4 luminary bags per house, and we supplemented with extra bags and tealights to fill in gaps. It was an amazing sight: every street lined with glowing bags, lighting up walkways along the road. We hope to be able to continue this tradition and share even more holiday magic next year.
Thank you to the Parksville Qualicum Beach Foundation and residents of Hermitage Park for making this all possible.
