A piece of a falling star will now grace the top of St. Albert's Christmas tree thanks to some local artists.
Hundreds of city residents are expected downtown this Thursday night as the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce kicks off its annual Christmas Light-Up. Bright lights, hot chocolate and carollers will be on hand to welcome Santa Claus as he arrives on a fire truck.
But the brightest, newest star of the night might be the bright, new star mounted atop the tree by the community hall. Built by St. Albert's Concept Jewellery Design and Innovative Iron Works, the unique metal ornament features a piece of an actual fallen star, or meteorite, in its centre.
The new star reflects the character of the city's arts and heritage district, says chamber president Lynda Moffat, and replaces the store-bought ornament used in previous years. "We're going to have an incredible work of art on top of our tree starting this year."
Sparkling snowflakes
Besides the new ornament, this year's light-up also has a new theme — snowflakes.
Downtown businesses decided to go with the theme to reflect the city's new snowflake-shaped lamppost ornaments, Moffat says.
The city brought in those ornaments to replace the tinsel candles and bells they used for the last few decades, says Mike Jones, operations supervisor with public works. "We were constantly repairing them all the time as they were so old."
Guests at the light-up can expect a large snowflake ice sculpture, as well as hot chocolate, carollers and performers Peter and Mary. Visitors will also get a snowflake passport that they can fill out at local businesses for a shot at gift certificates. Profiles Art Gallery is also holding a snowball-themed scavenger hunt.
Organizers have also put in an order for some actual snow, Moffat jokes. "Last year was so beautiful," she recalls. "Just that night, we had the most beautiful, gentle snowfall."
Cold iron, hot rock
If you look up from all the snowflakes and squint real hard, you might spot the thumbnail-sized piece of meteor embedded in the middle of the new ornament atop the St. Albert Community Hall tree.
The ornament is the brainchild of Carmen Bokenfohr, jeweler and owner of Concept Jewelry Design. "I thought it would be really cool to have an artistic star for the Christmas tree," she explains.
The star consists of two interlocking silver-powdered hollow metal starbursts, each about half a meter wide and 70 centimetres tall. It's designed to look star-shaped from every angle and will light up at night.
In its centre is a smaller star containing a piece of meteorite donated by Luc Guillemette, co-owner of Gemport. This particular piece is from the recently identified Whitecourt Crater in Alberta, he says. Composed of 92 per cent iron and eight per cent nickel, the piece weighs precisely 8.8 grams, which is why he says he picked it (eights are lucky in some cultures).
The Whitecourt Crater is the only known surface crater in Alberta, according to meteor scientist Chris Herd at the University of Alberta, and one of just 12 craters in the world with meteorites. Much of the site is now under provincial protection — Guillemette found his piece outside of the protected zone. The rock itself is thought to be about 4.5 billion years old and would have hit the ground about 1,100 years ago.
Guillemette says he felt the meteor would be a fitting addition to St. Albert's newest star. "You think of a star and falling stars; the closest we get to a star is a meteorite."
Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Thursday in front of the community hall. Visitors are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys or non-perishable food to donate to the Kinettes' Fill-A-Bus campaign.
