Tree lit up to a tee
- posted: 04 Dec. 2007
- scrollnews@byui.edu
Main Street in Rexburg is now glowing with the spirit of Christmas. All of the trees, including the large pine tree at the intersection of Center Street and Second East, were lit up during the sixth annual Festival of Lights on Friday.
Hundreds of people from the Madison County area gathered together, in spite of the below-freezing temperature, to take part in the holiday tradition.
“It doesn’t really matter how cold it is,” said Erin Krahenbuhl, a freshman studying nursing. “This is where the excitement is, and it’s great to feel that Christmas is on the way by seeing all of these lights.”
With an event as popular as the Festival of Lights, much time and planning are required to ensure that everything will run smoothly during the ceremony.
Donna Benfield, executive director of the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce, was one of the key players in the planning of the festival.
“There is a lot involved in preparing for this event. There are quite a few people on the chamber board who are responsible for taking care of the many different tasks that must be completed,” Benfield said.
Although this year’s festival was labeled the “Sixth Annual Festival of Lights,” a similar event had been going on for many years in Rexburg under a different name.
Prior to the change, the event was executed on a much smaller scale and fell on the Friday after Thanksgiving, a day that most college students are out of town. The date was moved back so the students of BYU-Idaho could also attend, Benfield said.
Cindy McHusen, who is chairwoman of the committee that oversees the planning of the Festival of Lights, also mentioned BYU-I students as being an important part of the tradition.
“A lot of the students at BYU-I are far away from home for the first time. They probably start to feel a little homesick around this time of year, so it’s good for them to come out and see the lights and the families,” McHusen said. 
