St. Albans, W.Va.
T
he annual Festival of Lights holiday light display was a success, St. Albans council members were told Tuesday.
“They did a great job,” Ward 3 council member Bill Knight told his fellow panelists at their Jan. 21 meeting. (Weather conditions caused officials to cancel the meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 6.)
“The guys worked hard, and everything went off without a hitch,” Knight said, referencing the St. Albans Parks and Recreation workers who are responsible for the light display at City Park.
The 2024 Festival of Lights – the 36th in as many years -- was open from Nov. 29 to Dec. 26. During the event:
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537 individuals participated in the first night walk through the park;
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767 visitors enjoyed hay rides; and
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10,487 cars drove through the light display.
A Santa House at Roadside Park along MacCorkle Avenue, opened nightly from Nov. 29 to Dec. 23, welcomed 4,117 children and adults during the season.
In all, the city received $36,297 in donations from the 2024 Festival of Lights, Knight said. Local restaurants and other businesses also donated food for Parks and Recreation workers during the event.
St. Albans Mayor Scott James said the city is planning more community events in the coming months.
“We’re trying to work out a deal with [local country radio station] WQBE on movie nights, four of them,” James said.
Movies would be featured outdoors along Olde Main Plaza in the city’s downtown area, he noted, although exact details, including time and dates, are still in the works.
“I think that it would draw a good crowd not only for the movies but also for the businesses in the area,” James said.
Local recognitions
Also on Tuesday, the city presented two citizens with certificates of appreciation for assisting a disabled neighbor on Custer Street during Winter Storm Blair.
Before presenting the award to St. Albans residents Jason Davis and Peyton Carter, the mayor read a message he received about the kind act.
“My dad lives on Custer Street,” James read. “Two younger boys in a black car came by and offered to clear his handicap ramp and driveway. Dad had no money to pay them. They shoveled and cleaned it all and said they wanted to thank him for his service. He was in the U.S. Marine Corps. This means so much to me. I am sick and can’t help my own dad.”
Councilman at large David Rucker, a teacher at McKinley Middle School, said Carter – an eighth grader and one of the boys who received the recognition -- was a former student in one of his classes.
“He was an awesome student,” Rucker said. “We talked about citizenship, community, and responsibility. That’s putting it into work right there.”
On Tuesday, the mayor also presented a $250 check to the St. Albans STAR Club, which won the city’s tree decorating contest. The STAR Club – an acronym for strengthening, transforming, achieving and revitalizing – is an after-school tutoring and enrichment program for at-risk middle school students in the community.
Other business
Also on Jan. 21, St. Albans council members:
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Approved $15,716.72 in invoice payments;
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Approved $19,355.40 to purchase hydraulic tools for the St. Albans Fire Department;
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Approved up to $10,000 for an asbestos remediation project;
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Approved $19,074.48 for the purchase of red dot sights for the police department;
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Approved $2,250 for the purchase of gun holsters for the police department;
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Approved $3,810 to send six city firefighters to training in Indianapolis; and
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Approved $11,977.59 worth of repairs for a Public Works recycling truck.
The St. Albans City Council will hold its next regularly scheduled meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 3.
