News
Christmas lights and more
Scott Wagar
11/27/2012
Wednesday evening during the Bottineau Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas tree lighting saw a spectrum of activity which included colorful lights decking the downtown district, Christmas carols, apple cider and cookies; and oh, a wedding engagement right in the middle of Main Street surrounded by the Christmas tree’s lights.
A good number of residents and guests came to the lighting ceremony the night before Thanksgiving with Chamber Director Clint Reinoehl emceeing the event where he gave the welcome and encouraged those in attendance to shop in Bottineau.
“I encourage everybody this holiday season to shop local,” Reinoehl said. “Support our local businesses here in town.”
With words of support for Bottineau’s shop owners, Reinoehl, along with the youngest member of the guests at the event, Reinoehl’s grandson, Charles James Reinoehl, lit the Christmas tree together with loud cheers from those looking on.
After the lighting of the tree, the group sang “Jiggle Bells” and “Silent Night.”
During the singing, Reinoehl stopped for a moment and introduced a long-time friend of his from Portland, Ore., Cathi Hercher. As quickly as he introduced her, he went down on one knee in front of the Christmas tree and proposed to her, which she accepted with cheers from the crowd.
From the street, the group was welcomed back to the Tech Center were they were greeted with apple cider, coffee and cookies and an evening of good fellowship.
This year’s Christmas tree was donated by Josh Lorenz who lives on 7th Street and Kersten.
The tree is a Colorado Blue Spruce and was close to 50 feet in height. The tree was so large, the city ended up cutting it in half, so that they could secure it safely into the tree stand base.
The city wishes to remind people that there are currently no left hand turns in the intersection where the tree is located for safety and traffic precautions.