Two Starke County towns are looking to upgrade their Christmas decorations. The North Judson Town Council Monday approved the third and final payment to Temple Display for the 42 light pole decorations it purchased in 2019. Now, town officials are ready to get more.
“We need something like a sleigh going across the highway,” said Town Superintendent Joe Leszek.
“Yes! Now we’re talking,” replied Town Council President John Rowe.
“Like an arch from one side to the other with Santa or something going across,” suggested Council Member Matt Brewer. They also discussed the idea of bringing the Santa Claus house back to Norwayne Field or the area near the police station.
North Judson’s Christmas spirit hasn’t escaped the attention of the Town of Hamlet, where Council President Dave Kesvormas asked last week if they should try getting similar light pole decorations. “Just somebody mentioned that,” he explained, “and with all the decorating and stuff like that, they said, ‘Well why don’t we do what other towns do, get, like, snowflakes and bells and Christmas?’ It’s like, ‘It’s a good idea.’”
He added that even if Hamlet could only afford a one or two decorations a year, it could still make a big impact. “Like we are with everything else, I mean, if we go in baby steps, baby steps add up,” Kesvormas said. “I mean, we would never have thought five years ago we would’ve got all the streets paved that we did. Miles for miles, I think we’ve knocked through most of the major mileage in the town where there’s issues, and I’m even more surprised at the railroad tracks, I guess, that got fixed.”
Kesvormas recommended against renting decorations as North Judson used to do, but suggested looking at getting quotes to purchase them.
