Let there be light

Photo: My picture on the BBC News website last week.



I made a decision early on that I would try and get involved in the community here whenever I could. Dunbar is the kind of place that still holds on to that community spirit that many towns have lost and if people don't work at it then it is in danger of losing what can be good about it. Last week a sign appeared on the high street asking for volunteers with the Christmas Lights. The lights are a big thing here...the best for miles! I turned up at the old Corn Exchange at 8.30am, and there as already a hive of activity going on. It was quite surreal seeing all the decorations laid out ready for transfer to the top of a lamp post. The snowmen were lined up by the door as if they were trying to escape. The chimney, with Santa stuck up it was there along side the slightly dated looking 'Dunbar Lights' sign. Within the week they would be transforming the dull looking high street into a festive treat.
The community spirit was caught in the range of volunteers helping put. The lifeboat crew, the Rotary Club, the green grocer, the spud farmer, cops, fishermen...and a youthworker! Before the lights went out there was testing to be done. As many were slightly damp having been kept in storage all year, a few went snap, crackle and pop! I had every confidence in the farmers wife doing the testing, until I learnt she knows 'the basics' of electronics. Outside, a fleet of vehicles called 'cherry pickers' were in use hoisting up volunteers to the roof tops to put up the lights. With 'cherry picking' having another meaning I was slightly amused to see the Angel Gabriel and Rudolph both being 'cherry picked'. Fortunately it wasn't Mary as that could have ruined the story of the virgin birth.
Then at around 10am, everyone downed tools and headed for the local Central Cafe, where free bacon rolls and tea were on offer. I managed to get a few snaps of it all, and I sent one in to the BBC news website. To my delight it got selected and used for the photo of the day. The big switch on is Sunday night, and I expect a few thousand will come out for it. I just hope that lot I put up work.