Rain late in the evening did force a slightly early wrap up to the Brookswood Night of Lights on Friday, Dec. 1, but crowd numbers were still strong.
A head count wasn’t possible because the free family event had multiple points of entry.
“But from the amount of food and samples that we gave out, it did seem we had more,” said Emma Stewart, director with the Brookswood Village Merchants Association.
The merchants of Brookswood host the holiday event as a way to give back to the community for its support throughout the year. This year featured Santa, elves, hot chocolate and other treats, prizes, giveaways, an obstacle course, music, and more.
The event has typically been held in the retail heart of the neighbourhood, around 200th Street and 40th Avenue, but was moved to the George Preston Recreation Centre.
The Langley Rivermen are part of the neighbourhood merchant group but the move to the rec centre allowed it to have a bigger role this year. It offered free admission to its Friday evening game to children attending Brookswood Night of Lights. The move also allowed more young hockey players to get involved. They helped with handing out goodies and running games.
“That was great to have to kids sports teams out,” said Stewart who hopes they enjoyed being part of the community event.
If anyone has any feedback on the event, Stewart encouraged them to contact the merchants group through its website brookswoodvillage.com or social media.
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• READ MORE: Merchants association also hosts summer celebration
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