It's the most wonderful time of year, and Lewis County staff have pulled out all of the stops to spread Christmas cheer through the local government’s offices.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners, with help from Lewis County Manager Ryan Barrett, celebrated Christmas a bit early this year, awarding Lewis County Community Development staff with an honorary award for the department's outstanding Christmas decorations this December.
The board of commissioners invited the department’s staff in their Christmas costumes to its Tuesday business meeting to take a photo and receive its trophy — an almost 2-foot tall nutcracker.
The honorary award is known around the Lewis County Courthouse as the “Notable Nutcracker.”
Each year, the Lewis County government asks its staff members to get jolly and decorate their work spaces with holiday decorations before staff members tour the departments to decide which department outdid their colleagues.
Lewis County held its Tour of Lights on Friday, Dec. 19.
Lewis County departments decorated using a chosen theme. The winning community development group selected “Rockette-ing Around the Christmas Tree” for its theme. In addition to decorations, the department's staff offered a performance. On Friday afternoon, staff members attempted a Rockette’s style kickline in the lobby of the Lewis County Community Development building.
During the tour, the Lewis County Fair Office stole the Christmas spirit with its theme “Only the Grinch Would Serve Jello and Eggnog.”
The Lewis County Juvenile Detention Department threw a “Country Christmas,” and “Santa Paws” came to the Lewis County Clerk’s Office.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office celebrated with its theme "Arrest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” and the county Human Resources Department chose “Getting Lit.”
The Assessor’s Office chose “Christmas Parcels” and the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners chose the theme “The Butler Did It,” as a nod to the decorating work done by Lewis County Budget Administrator Becky Butler.
In a Facebook post from Friday afternoon, the county posted a video of its Tour of Lights celebration and exclaimed, “Fridays are for festivities, and this year's Tour of Lights Christmas Competition has been one for the books.”
See a short video montage of the celebration on the Lewis County Commissioners Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/mr3s982n.
