As we head toward those cold and dark winter months, we know we need to turn on our lights earlier and earlier. That’s why the Tsawwassen Business Improvement Association (TBIA) is out there trying to help brighten up the night.
A time-honoured tradition, the TBIA (well known by locals as Sunny Tsawwassen) has been colouring Tsawwassen with strings of reds, greens, blues, oranges and other cheery lights for the past 24 years.
The TBIA will be busy ensuring that trees and lamp posts up and down 56th Street are festooned with bling. This year they will be adding a seasonal touch to the lamp posts on 52nd Street to help the businesses located in that area get into the festive spirit.
Randy Scott, long-time owner and operator of Randy’s Tire and Auto Centre, is once again taking on the task of “keeper of the lights” as part of his volunteer role as a TBIA board member and member of the TBIA community enhancements committee.
Asked why he’s back, Scott said it’s about sending the right message.
“It’s not just about the lights. It’s time to get back into the community. I find over the years there’s been a disinterest in business owners getting involved in the community.”
As a busy business owner in Tsawwassen, Scott said it’s easy to get bogged down by work and just look at the bottom line. Businesses are so focused on trying to stay afloat that they forget about being present in the community, he said.
By hanging up Christmas lights, watering flower baskets or volunteering for local public events, Scott said people take note.
“The community, when they see that, they’re more apt to want to support local businesses.”
Scott said business owners seem to rely too much on simply being a member of the TBIA in order to attract people to their storefronts. But customers are more likely to appreciate a business if they see an owner or employee doing something for the community.
For TBIA staff, the hardest part of the job is making sure the lights stay lit and everything continues to work properly throughout the winter season. If that means Scott is checking every light bulb and power connection like an obsessive Clark Griswold, so be it.
“Sometimes you’re out there and have to do a ton of repairs. Other times it’s easy. Every day I drive home and it’s dark out I’m checking out the lights. Every time I’m coming in from playing hockey, I take the run up 56th Street and have a look to make sure everything is working.”
The TBIA isn’t just putting up a rainbow of seasonal lights. Working with Delta police, the TBIA has been stringing white lights in the business district. The bright and cheery lights operate year-round, encouraging not just shopping after dark, but a safer community for all.
This year the business group will be adding additional permanent warm white lights to trees along 12th Avenue to brighten up the sidewalks and pedestrian crossings, thanks to grant funding from the City of Delta.
From now until January, Scott will be busy making sure the lights are aglow.
So, he has a request for drivers: “Try not to run me over, please,” he said with a smile. “I still have to go to work in the morning.”
