If you didn’t know better, you would think you’d fallen straight into a Hallmark movie.
When Trish Granger moved back to her small hometown of Hardisty, Alta., in 2013 after a divorce, she fell in love again with her town, a place where people wave to each other from their cars on the main street.
She even met her “lumberjack” and remarried, though, because this is Alberta, he was an oil-field worker.
And now, Ms. Granger is the driving force behind Hardisty’s annual Christmas transformation, directing her cheer team to help with decorations and events. She is so intertwined in the holiday festivities that some locals in Hardisty, a community of about 650 people a two-hour drive southeast of Edmonton, have come to call it “Trish-mas.”
“I like to bring happiness to people,” said Ms. Granger, who has two grown kids. “I love seeing when people are all together – the bows, ribbons, lights and presents are just a bonus.”
The town windows on the main street feature little Christmas displays.
Outside Rustic Stars, which Ms. Granger runs with her parents, who own it, you can find a life-size Grinch, his dog Max and a Cindy Lou Who, all strung with Christmas lights.
The bank a few doors down has a little Christmas village, and the thrift store hangs the clothes with the most festive sparkle to catch the eyes of passersby.
The local theatre that has been turned into a concert space opens. An honest-to-goodness Kris Kringle roams the streets ringing bells.
At the community hall, where the annual Festival of Trees is displayed, groups from across town contribute decorated entries: the Flagstaff Scottish Club, Gibson Energy (referred to by locals simply as “The Company”) and the library, which has built a tree from old books, accompanied by a note from its manager thanking residents for her warm welcome in her first year on the job.
Ms. Granger’s “cheer team” is a group of seven volunteers who plan local events during December. As a lover of Christmas movies – Ms. Granger says she actually takes notes when she watches them – she organized the team to host events like a town dinner, food drive and the tree decorating at the hall.
One of her volunteers is Sam Ruzicka-Drager, whose white GMC truck is decorated in white and red flashing Christmas lights and a sign that reads Merry Christmas.
“I started decorating it for the first year of cheer team. We were delivering gifts for seniors and everybody commented how great it looked, just kind of driving around town,” said Ms. Ruzicka-Drager.
Ms. Ruzicka-Drager was born and raised in Hardisty and met her wife, Christine Ruzicka-Drager, online. The second Ms. Ruzicka-Drager, Christine, is now on the town council. “Trish came to [us] and said, ‘Look, it is after COVID. I want to do something. How do we get our town back to being friendly again?’ ”
The cheer team also runs a program called Gifts for Seniors. People can buy something for an anonymous senior who is given a festive moniker like “Pinecone Princess.” Ms. “Princess” lists a few items she likes (warm socks, puzzles) and people can buy her presents.
“Some of the stories would break your heart,” said Diane Fossum, Ms. Granger’s mother.
The month of activities included a visit from the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Holiday Train, which stopped by earlier in December, lighting up the village with illuminated boxcar murals of snowmen, elves and waving toy soldiers. The visit, intended to raise food, money and awareness for local food banks, was accompanied by a day of festivities.
Before the main event, the local concert venue, Bird Dog Theatre, opened for a few Western Christmas songs played by the building’s owners. Suzanne Levesque and Craig Bignell form the musical duo Over the Moon and purchased the old movie theatre two years ago on Facebook Marketplace for $18,000.
“We have been practising all week,” said Ms. Levesque. “And we have almost learned them,” quipped her husband, Mr. Bignell.
Mr. Bignell plays an acoustic guitar, and Ms. Levesque plays a stand-up bass.
“The love around us and the smiles is what makes me so happy about Christmas. Also the traditions we share,” Ms. Granger says.
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