Roseburg, OR. — With the winter holidays approaching, downtown Roseburg is getting a festive makeover and volunteers are still needed to help complete the work over the next two weekends.
This week, the City’s facilities maintenance team added a Christmas wreath and colorful lights around the top of City Hall and the Public Safety Center, while Douglas County staff decorated the courthouse and its towering front-lawn evergreen. White lights also now illuminate City Hall’s lobby windows. Local businesses are joining in ahead of Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 29 and the county’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Nov. 30.
On Sunday, Nov. 23, City Councilor Zack Weiss, working with the emerging nonprofit Destination Downtown Roseburg, is coordinating the installation of roughly 30 wreaths on downtown lampposts. Weiss and Douglas Fast Net are seeking additional volunteers to meet at 1 p.m. in the parking lot at Jackson Street and Douglas Avenue. “One hundred percent—if they show up, we will absolutely put them to work,” Weiss said.
Weiss and fellow Garden Valley Church members restrung the wreaths, and the City is funding $5,000 worth of new commercial-grade lights. Approximately 3,000 lights will be installed on Jackson Street on Nov. 30 before the tree lighting ceremony. Volunteers will also help string 6,000 feet of lights in downtown trees using equipment loaned by local businesses, including a bucket truck from Trees/Brush+ Us and a boom lift from United Rentals.
Light-installation volunteers can email Weiss or arrive at the same Jackson and Douglas parking lot at 7 a.m. on Nov. 30.
Weiss noted that the fast-paced effort has unexpectedly strengthened community collaboration. “We’ve got a lot of cool community support coming together to make this happen,” he said.
Destination Downtown Roseburg is accepting donations to help expand the holiday lighting footprint next year, with hopes of lighting Main Street and extending displays north past the Roseburg Public Library to Diamond Lake Boulevard. For donation information or volunteer inquiries, email zweiss@roseburgor.gov.
Details about Shop Small Saturday and Douglas County’s 42nd annual Christmas Tree Lighting co-sponsored by the City of Roseburg and First Christian Church are available on the city’s website.
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