REGINA – A Saskatchewan man is trying to map out every Christmas light display in the country but is having difficulty branching out into Saskatoon. Iann Gorrill, 34, begins the holiday season in mid-November with the goal of his website being the one-stop solution for all holiday decoration tours in Canada.
In 2012, he started with a simple Google map of festive homes around Regina.
“It’s just something that I’ve always enjoyed doing with my family and I wanted to be able to share it, I want everyone else to have the same type of experience, it’s kind of my gift to world,” said Gorrill, who is a network analyst.
“Last year, I decided to step it up a bit and we made an actual website for it and did a lot of coding for it and made users and submissions possible.”
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And thus, the ‘SparkleTour’ was created. It currently encompasses Regina, Weyburn, Estevan, White City, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon.
As addresses come in, Gorrill adds them to the maps until the New Year. He donates his time but when it comes to nominations he depends on others to help shed some light.
“Just crowd-sourced generosity, in people providing me with addresses to these places that they’ve discovered with great Christmas lights,” said Gorrill.
This year, in an attempt to spread cheer more quickly and efficiently, he’s focusing on social media. SparkleTour now has over 720 Facebook likes and nearly 100 Twitter followers.
There has also been a lot more addresses inputted this year. The map is showing about 50 locations between all communities. Gorrill says most of over 100 submissions last year came in mid-December.
Saskatoon was on the map but there wasn’t much success. Gorrill says he doesn’t know many people to help it along in the Bridge City.
“If anyone in Saskatoon wants to work with us to do the same we’ll gladly have a discussion,” said Gorrill.
Currently, there are four locations mapped in Saskatoon.
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Besides social media promotion, Gorrill has also been working with local companies to come up with prizes and incentives to get more people outdoors enjoying the lights and sounds of the season.
“If you think it’s a good display and you’re proud of it than, by all means, submit your address,” said Gorrill.
“The best case scenario; all of Canada starts mapping.”
Gorrill asks that safety be kept in mind when installing lights, especially on icy ladders. To minimize time on high roofs, decorators should also consider all the real estate in their front yards.
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