Can you believe it? The Boone County Spotlight has officially been around for a year. While a year may not sound like much, I can assure you that it has felt like ten. Many thought we would be long gone by this point. In the beginning, I know that I was not sure. However, the support of Boone County and its businesses has been tremendous. Without you, we would not have made it.

I think back to day one and realize that we have made numerous changes from layout to print companies to the introduction of BOCODOD. The difference in this issue and issue one is certainly dramatic. In issue one, we were scrambling to fille the pages while know we are having to add extra pages to make space for everyone interested in being included.

Change is not always easy, but it is normally a good thing. While we worried about our acceptance and many thought we were attempting to replace the local newspaper, we have worked very hard from day one to establish ourselves as a completely new print publication offering local information, deals, and even some entertainment to the people of Boone County. More importantly, we wanted to offer the Spotlight to everyone in the area for free. As you can see, even with change, we have stuck by our original format and even added additional features.

We will continue to offer the Spotlight at no charge to everyone in Boone County (and maybe eventually beyond). We thank everyone for their support and hope that you continue to enjoy this publication.

In addition to changes you see in the Spotlight, we have also developed as a business to become involved in community projects. While our business is not geographically located near the square, or even downtown, this historic portion of Harrison is very important to us.

We have been involved in numerous events and causes associated with the sqaure including the Harrison City of Lights. You have seen articles related to the City of Lights. You may have even seen much of the work that has been done on the square to prepare for this holiday season. However, you have not yet seen the result of all of this work. Well, tomorrow you will.

On Thursday, November 18th, the official lighting ceremony will take place and you will have your opportunity to see the new City of Lights.

There will be numerous activities leading up to the lighting ceremony that will take place around 6:00 PM.

Scheduled Activities will begin at 4:00 PM and will last until 8:00 PM. Activities will include:

Christmas Music by HHS Choir, Brand New Church Band, and All About Me Learning Center.

There will be Free Activities for children such as cookie decorating, a coloring contest, and hayrides around the square to see the lights.

Free hot chocolate and coffee will also be available. There will be baked goods for sale with all proceeds benefitting the Harrison City of Lights. You will also have the opportunity to donate during the festivities

The lighting ceremony will be around 6:00 PM with recognition of committees and citizens connected to the project presented by Ronnie Bell, President of the Historic Harrison Business Association (HHBA).

While this lighting ceremony is important to those involved, we want to make sure it is also important to everyone else in the area. I know that there are many concerns that some have about the Harrison City of Lights. With that, Jim Buchanan of TKO8 has recently addressed some of the misconceptions or "myths" about the lights on an episode of his show. These are the excepts from Jim's script about these myths:

Myth Number 1: Tax dollars are used to fund the lights.

Fact: First and foremost this effort is funded by private donations from both businesses and individuals and volunteers solely provide the work being done. With the exception of the Boone County Quorum Court agreeing to pay for the electricity for the lights on the courthouse lawn and the building no tax money is used for this project. We have to come up with every dime for every light that you see twinkling as well as the light bill to keep them that way.

Myth Number 2: The lights are being brought back by the (insert organization name here)

Fact: The Harrison City of Lights Committee is a freestanding group of people and not one of the existing entities in the city. The reason I’m making this distinction is not to slight any of the other organizations or groups, in fact most have been very generous in offering some forms of support. However we as a group want to make it clear to everyone that this is about you, your children, your grandchildren and not about photo opportunities and boards of directors. We feel that Christmas Lights and the Christmas season should be all about family, friends and good will and simply put, not bureaucracy and club dues. To each his own, however that is not what we are about.

Myth Number 3: You guys have already raised a bunch of money so why should I give any?

Fact: As I mentioned before all of the lights that you see are from private donations. While we have been successful in raising money for the project we are far from our goal. What’s the goal? One billon dollars! No not really. The Christmas Light project is something that will be an ongoing effort year round, every year, for many years to come. That’s simply how an annual community project works. There is no cut off per se but there are levels that we do need to meet to make the magic happen on an annual basis. But, if you still want to know exactly how much has been raised may I personally invite you to one of our meetings Thursday mornings at 9:30 at Frenzy and I’ll be more than glad to tell ya.

Myth Number 4: The lights are already up. There’s nothing left to be done!

Fact: As I just mentioned this is an annual project but even more than that it is a community project for the people by the people. I promise you there is still more that can be done.