B.C. city selling 43 novelty Christmas decorations once used to light up downtown
There is no partridge in a pear tree, but there are nine green bells, eight giant soldiers and a wack of wreaths up for grabs this Christmas from the City of Cranbrook in southeastern B.C.
The city is selling 43 giant holiday decorations that were used to jazz up the downtown core over the holidays for decades before being taken out of commission about five years ago.
The collection is being sold together and interested buyers can bid on them until Dec.11 at 2:30 p.m. PT.
"In the past, they hung from street light poles," said Mike Matejka, city manager of infrastructure planning, adding the ideal buyer will be "somebody with a very big yard that has an overzealous love for Christmas."
A big yard is critical because the decor is anything but subtle. Not only do they light up, they are larger-than-life. According to Matejka, the soldiers stand about eight feet tall and the other decorations range between five and six feet.
All of them are lit with seven-watt light bulbs and the collection includes:
Nine bells.
Eight stockings.
Eight soldiers.
Eight trees.
Eight wreaths.
Two poinsettias.
Even Matejka is tempted to throw his bid in the ring.
"I'm keen on the soldiers, they've got this really cool drum, they're eight feet tall and there's eight of them" said Matejka on CBC's Daybreak South.
"If my wife is inclined I'd like to go see if I could throw them on our roof or deck and it would be really cool," he added.
But for now, the decorations are being sold as a group so Matejka is hoping a couple friends will pony up some cash so they can split them up among a few households.
And that's assuming they are the highest bidder.
All bids are sealed until the deadline passes and then the city's finance department will announce who is taking home the holiday haul. There is no minimum bid and bidding information can be found here.
