Good turnout for switch-on of Thurso Christmas lights

Sir John's Square in Thurso is looking very festive after the switch-on of the town's Christmas lights on Friday.

The task of switching on the lights was given to Pennyland Primary School pupil, eight-year-old Chloe Rosie and her friend Amy Andrews. Chloe is the daughter of Mark Rosie who supplied the very impressive Christmas tree and helped with its installation and decoration.

People started to gather in the town centre from around 6.30pm creating a very festive atmosphere with the switch-on taking place at 7pm.

Pleased that the weather stayed dry and calm for the event, Thurso Christmas Lights committee member Kerri Bremner said: "It was a great success. There was a lovely atmosphere around the square and great community spirit.

"Caithness FM helped us get in the Christmas spirit with some music and counted us down from 10 to the lights switch-on. We were delighted to have Chloe Rosie and her friend Amy Andrews do the switch-on for us.

"We were really surprised and touched by the support and turnout we received – it was so lovely to be able to share it with so many people again and hear the crowd's reaction.

"Some of last year's fundraising efforts went into researching and choosing new lights for the tree and we have had some amazing compliments. We are delighted with how it looks."

Novelty light-up items were being sold on the evening at the door of Blow Your Top, which proved very popular.

It was a real team effort with the lights committee were fortunate to get also get help from SB Access, Gow Plant Ltd and Hugh Simpson Contractors Ltd with this year's tree which included repair work required to get it back in position after falling down in high winds. Council representatives also helped with getting the electric for the lights.

A number of others were instrumental in making the evening a success, Ewan Scott from SSE carried out the PAT Testing, while Walter Duff repaired and fixed the lights. The committee appreciated the fact that Kyle Mackie from the council was able to be on hand for the switch-on. Newsbeat Newsagent stayed open for the evening supplying refreshments and snacks.

While the help of a crane and bucket is required to get the tree decorations in place, the committee are able to do all the other lights in the square and surrounding streets themselves. Kerri added: "We have to select lights in accordance with health and safety protocol so sourcing them can involve a lot of research."

Santa's sleigh has also been out an about in the town this week. On Sunday Santa was in the Ormlie and Pennyland areas, while last night he visited Springpark and Mount Vernon, while tonight (Tuesday) the sleigh is scheduled to be visiting other streets in the town, Burnside and West Gills.

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