Putting up Christmas decorations in October

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — With temperatures getting into the eighties once again this month, it probably doesn’t feel like the right time to put up Christmas decorations, but that doesn’t stop ambassadors with downtown Sioux Falls from filling Phillips Avenue with holiday spirit.

Halloween is right around the corner, but you can already find Christmas decorations at Falls Park.

Ambassadors with Downtown Sioux Falls are also hard at work along Phillips Avenue.

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“People tease us a lot of time. ‘It’s too early for Christmas decorations,’ and we always invite them that if they’d like to come down in December and help us climb the ladder and put them up in the subzero temperatures, they’re welcome to join us. We try to get as much up as we can when it’s still 50 degrees plus,” Downtown Sioux Falls ambassador program operations manager Martin Dill said.

Right now, they’re just beginning a long, time consuming process.

“Everyone thinks about putting their lights up on their house, and that takes some effort. It does. It takes some effort. Now, imagine doing that to house, after house, after house,” Downtown Sioux Falls ambassador Brian Gochal said.

“We’re just getting started. We’ve got a couple of days in putting these lighted garlands that you see behind me up on the green poles down on Phillips Avenue. Then, we’re going to hit every tree between here and 6th Street,” Dill said.

Then, it will be time to add the lights.

“We’re just going to put twice as many lights on at a lower elevation and hopefully get a real bright and merry, cheerful glow,” Dill said.

Which will help create another memorable parade of lights.

“I get to be a part of the downtown, making it beautiful, making it a winter wonderland,” Gochal said.

Downtown Sioux Falls will also spend a couple of weeks setting up lights inside the federal courthouse on Phillips Avenue.