Bowman has been ramping up the holiday cheer with its choirs singing, its people circulating endless trays of festive treats and even Mother Nature getting in on the action by blanketing the area in a thick white layer of snow.
By BRYCE MARTIN
Pioneer Editor | [email protected]
Bowman has been ramping up the holiday cheer with its choirs singing, its people circulating endless trays of festive treats and even Mother Nature getting in on the action by blanketing the area in a thick white layer of snow.
Still, it seemed like one thing was missing — a big, colorful Christmas tree.
Several community members took notice and worked to fill the perceived absence last week by setting up a 15-foot tall pine tree, freshly chopped down from South Dakota’s Cave Hills, and completed the festive display with hundreds of strings of multicolored lights.
The Bowman County Pioneer, along with Josh and Melissa Lindstrom, came up with the idea to erect Bowman’s own Christmas tree downtown, located in the lot south of The Pioneer’s office on Main Street, for all to enjoy.
Though simple in theory, it proved to be a daunting task when the tree arrived larger than expected with a contraption to keep it standing not quite fully worked out.
It was local resident Albie Holecek who spent hours assembling a massive stand to hold the nearly 600-pound tree, and several employees of Bowman Sales and Service to help place the tree into its stand.
Bryce Martin and Nathan Lee of The Pioneer assumed the task of decorating the tree, with the help of some donated décor from the community.
Dan Peterson of R&L Contracting in Bowman provided a lift for Martin to climb into and tower above the street, draping lights and fixing the lit star atop the massive tree. The temperatures didn’t speed up the decorating efforts as they dipped below zero for most of the week, topped by some bone-tingling wind.
It was truly a community effort that let some added holiday cheer shine through the night on Bowman’s Main Street.
