Joyce Marie Taylor
Suwannee Democrat
Jasper —
A good sized crowd arrived at Jasper City Park Tuesday evening, Dec. 4 for the official unveiling of the holiday light display.
“On behalf of the Hamilton County Chamber of Commerce, I would like to thank you all for attending the lighting ceremony here in the park,” said chamber president Susan Ramsey. “While the chamber is promoting this event, let me be clear, we cannot take any credit for the work here.”
Ramsey then thanked the city of Jasper, especially City Manager Charles Williams and his wife Barbara for overseeing the event and making sure it went off without a hitch. Ramsey said Barbara Williams volunteered and put a lot of time and energy into the lighting project.
“There are thousands of lights put up in the park,” Ramsey said. “Up to 20 people worked on this from city employees to volunteers. The city gave us a shining example of something to be proud of tonight.”
Charles Williams said he hoped the holiday lighting event at the park would continue to grow each year. He reminded everyone that the Jasper City Council voted months ago that the city park will always be a permanent fixture in the town and would always belong to the citizens of Jasper.
“We’ll always have something here that we can be proud of,” he said.
One of the highlights of the lighting displays in the park is the nativity scene, which is front and center on Hatley Street as you enter the town. Williams thanked Kary Dedge and L.T. Ogburn for their generous contributions to the nativity display, as well as the inmates from Hamilton Correctional Institution who actually did the work on the scene.
Williams had a long list of others to thank, including the Jasper City Council for their support in the project.
“Absolutely couldn’t have done it without them,” he said.
Future plans are to expand the holiday decorations to include all of the downtown area, Williams said before he asked that the lights be turned on.
Once all the lights came on, everyone was in awe at their splendor and soon they went around to explore the beautiful scenes gracing the town of Jasper in the city park.
Don’t forget...Sweets N the Streets, the Sheriff’s Explorers Toy Run and the Annual Christmas Parade are coming this Saturday, Dec. 8.
