Merritt’s Country Christmas cancelled

Monday was supposed to be the big Christmas tree light-up event, the signature kick-off to Merritt’s annual Country Christmas celebrations. However, due to the flooding and evacuation order, organizers have been forced to cancel the celebration for the second year in a row.

“Extremely frustrating, we powered through all the Interior Health Authority’s COVID-19 restrictions, just to have mother nature completely ruin our plans. I had the Christmas tree on the back of a trailer ready to bring it into town on Monday,” said Carrie Ware.

The celebration was cancelled last year as well due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Ware did state that the committee is looking at possibly still have a parade when residents are allowed back into town.

“We looked into delaying, but part of the problem is insurance coverage. We may be able to, but the committee is scattered to the four corners of BC. Trying to hold a meeting has been difficult,” added Ware. “We were thinking about maybe just putting the parade on later in December, but it all depends on insurance and whether we can get back into our town.”