If you're looking for a way to not only get into the spirit of the holiday season but into the spirit of reducing, reusing and recycling, a trip to Vanderhoof may be the answer.
For the third straight year, the Reid Hotel, at 2508 Burrard Ave., is hosting a Christmas Village with both the lobby and upstairs rooms decorated in themes from the holiday season - all with trees and ornaments retrieved from the community's reuse station.
It's the brainchild of Barb Penner. In 2010 she was at the station in the community of about 4,600 people 100 kilometres west of Prince George and saw a worker carry a "Bobcat-load of Christmas into our landfill."
Penner and some friends started rescuing the items and, in 2011, hosted the first Christmas Village at the Hobson History Museum. It remained there for the next few years and, following a hiatus in 2016, it was moved to the Reid where visitors can go from room to room rather than building to building, which can be a good thing when it's -20 C, Penner noted.
Each of the trees is decorated in a theme. For example, one tree holds all the snowman ornaments that have been collected. Each of the rooms also takes on a theme. In one, there is a record player playing a Bing Crosby Christmas album. Another is an ode to Hobson.
"It's lights, decor, decorations and trees all pretty well from the reuse," Penner said.
It's open this evening 5-8 p.m., on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., on Monday from 1 to 4 p.m. and on Tuesday (Christmas Eve) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will reopen on Fri., Dec. 27 and likely run until for a few more days afterward.
Admission is by donation with proceeds going to the St. Johns Hospital Auxiliary. For more information, call Penner at 250-567-3397.
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