CONTRIBUTING TO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT — Nathan Sempkowski, a junior in the auto body collision program at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School, is adding some paint to the holiday decor that will grace the streets of New Alexandria.

BLOOMINGDALE — Three programs at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School are helping a local community get into the holiday season by sprucing up some decor.

Welding, auto body collision and electrical trades students are participating in the redesign of Christmas lights for New Alexandria and must have them ready in time for holiday lighting. Electrical trade instructor Buddy Davis, who is running the project, said the school has been helping local villages for at least five years and students have the chance to give something back.

“We did half of the lights last year.” he said, adding that students rearranged the snowflake decorations and added new lights so they all sparkled across the streetscape.

This time, the three programs teamed up to redesign the 13 candle lights, with Todd Parker’s students welding new garlands and Russell Achhammer’s auto body collision class painting the frames. Davis’ students will rewire the lighting and add new bulbs, and Davis said the lights should be ready by December.

“We built them from scratch and changed the design. “We took the old candle design and created wreaths with candles inside.” explained.

“They were prepared at the end of last year and welding classes started in mid-September. Hopefully we will have them by the end of the month and have the wiring, lights and decorations done. “We’re trying to get them back by Thanksgiving.”

Davis said JVS has helped other communities such as Hopedale, Adena and Amsterdam with similar projects, and students are pleased to see their work seen on local streets.