Town of Ponoka Mayor Kevin Ferguson believes the abundance of Christmas lights through the town symbolizes the light at the end of the tunnel for 2021 and the moving to a brighter 2022. (Town of Ponoka)

By Alessia Proietti and Josh Hall

Year-end review for a brighter new year

Ponoka lights shine into a brighter new year, says Mayor Ferguson

Jan 5, 2022 | 10:43 AM

Christmas lights across the Town of Ponoka this year have become almost a light at the end of the tunnel for Mayor Kevin Ferguson.

“Christmas 2020 was the worst Christmas I have ever experienced,” he said. “This Christmas feels different. It feels more exciting.”

The annual lights display was set up at Lions Centennial Park alongside the Christmas Lights Tour beginning Dec. 6, where residents lit up their homes, for another self-guided tour due to pandemic restrictions.

The holiday season didn’t stop there for residents.

While 2020’s Santa Claus parade was cancelled, 2021 was in full swing. The “Almost Midnight Madness” event attracted residents for evening Christmas shopping, ending the night with a fireworks show at the Battle River Valley.

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The pandemic was the most challenging to grapple for most of the world and Ponoka was no different, says the mayor. Nonetheless, he had a list of projects throughout the year he was proud to speak of.

“Even though COVID is still around, even though we’re still dealing with it, I’m very proud of our town. I’m very proud of our staff. We have found ways to get over it and through it and beyond it,” said Ferguson.

In addition to refurbishing the Aquaplex with new air filters and the trail system at Tractor Park, a new ice plant was also installed for the Ponoka Arena Complex in February. It is expected to last another 30 years, allowing for better service for ice sports during the summer months.

Mayor Ferguson also highlighted the new parks added to the town, particularly the Old Hospital Rotary Park in September which includes an amphitheatre for outdoor live music events.

The efforts placed into the Town of Ponoka may be rubbing off on the public as their incentive program for residents and businesses has also proven to be fruitful.

The mayor detailed that grants allocated for newcomers brought in 92 new residents and nine businesses. Grants were also given to current residents for business or home related projects, attracting the construction of two commercial properties and five major residential home renovations.

“In a community like Ponoka, with 7,500 people, to have 92 new residents and nine new businesses, it was a phenomenal success,” he said.

And the work doesn’t stop there. An outdoor skating arena has already been set up for early 2022 in the downtown area. As well, a former runner himself, Mayor Ferguson believes the town’s next focus will be on building a recreational facility, similar to other towns, that includes a running track.

None of this could have been accomplished without the community, said the mayor.

“I’m always amazed at how people in this town pull together,” he said.

To illustrate, he shared a story of a town employee, mowing the lawn near the splash park that, at the time, was having some plumbing issues. While the employee could have driven the riding mower up to the concrete, he instead stopped two meters away, to mow the lawn by hand, to prevent grass from flying into the drain system and clogging it up further.

“It’s a little thing, it’s really meaningless when you think about it, but it means everything at the same time. It just tells you the quality of the people we have working for us and it also tells you about how they care about the community, which tells me that the community is obviously awesome if they would care that much about them,” he said.

When describing the entity of Ponoka, Mayor Ferguson believes it is a combination of community and the town’s country charm.

“There’s almost a duality to it because we live this nice, quiet, calm life but as well too, we also embrace, and this is what we’re really hoping for that comes back in the spring, is the Ponoka Stampede. And of course, what you need to know is that the Ponoka Stampede is the second largest rodeo in Canada,” he said.

“I sometimes think, we even, as we live here, we take ourselves for granted in terms of we don’t understand often times just what a tourist attraction we are in relationship to people from around the world and even in relationship to people outside of the province of Alberta.”

Taking down those Christmas lights and entering into the New Year, the symbolic meaning of the lights remains lit through the town.

“I really think what’s happening is people are done. People are done with COVID, they’re ready to get back with their lives and the Christmas lights are a testimony to that.”

“I’m really looking forward to 2022.”