Superior gets decked out for the holidays

There are some quaint Montana towns that simply radiate with Christmas spirit. Downtowns that are decked out in twinkling lights. Town squares with splendidly decorated trees. Businesses overflowing with holiday shopping and festive signs. Sadly, Superior hasn’t been one of those places, at least not in recent years.

But one local resident and business owner, Julie Prater, is on a mission to cultivate the Christmas atmosphere and yuletide spirit of Superior. Prater is a fourth generation Montana girl. Her and her husband Steve, moved to the area about 12 years ago.

She remarked, “After watching Facebook posts on the Mineral Community page for many years and seeing people complain about the lack of decorations in Superior and Christmas festivities, I said to my husband that I wanted to change that narrative.”

Prater has flipped the script on Superior being a bit Scrooge-ish, and organized a town decorating effort that started earlier this year. After months of collecting donations to help purchase hundreds of sets of lights from Darlow’s, workers came together this past Saturday to string bulbs all along River Street.

“It was my idea to do this lighting and all the businesses on the west side of River Street have agreed to light up their own spaces. The Town of Superior also has purchased all new banners and flags for town that are super colorful and festive and have the theme of - Have a Superior Holiday!” explained Prater. The goal is to make this an annual affair of decorating the town for the holidays.

Last January Prater posted on social media that she had an idea on how to make Superior more festive. She stated, “I approached Jill Bett’s, who manages Darlow’s Ace Hardware and said “How can we fundraise for lights to light up the courthouse trees, and a large town Christmas tree?”

Following that conversation, Prater and her husband agreed to financially ensure that if Ace Hardware ordered 100 boxes of lights, 5000 linear feet, that they would guarantee the costs were covered, if they did not sell. Prater recalled, “Then I just posted [about it] on the Mineral Community Facebook page. It took no time at all for the lights to sell, as the community was excited to participate.”

Soon the town decorating efforts snowballed into even more Christmas merriment. Donations came in to flood lights for the “Old School Trees” which sold out equally as fast. Prater said, “We now have 135 boxes of lights, plus Trail West Bank purchased matching lights for their trees and have agreed to let us “light up” their large spruce tree, which will be the town Tree with a seven-and-a-half-foot lighted angel topper on it.”

On Saturday, Nov. 12, Prater and a crew of jolly volunteers went to work putting up all the lights. Hundreds of strands ascended into the trees along River Street starting at the courthouse, TrailWest Bank, and the old school. Giant wreaths were constructed to be placed on the bridge over the Clark Fork. Prater noted, “The businesses on the West side of River Street have all agreed to decorate and be ready for the December 3, event.”

The official event is the Superior Christmas Lighting Ceremony on December 3rd from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The community is invited to come and out kick off the holiday season. During the celebration they will be lighting the beautiful Spruce Tree on River Street at Trail West Bank.

Participants to make the day special are Johanna Henderson, her Dad is Santa. Anna Marie Guerra-White, her daughters Girl Scout troop is taking donations for cocoa, coffee, and cookies. Darlow’s is generously donating the refreshments that will be provided. And Darlow’s Ace Hardware has also facilitated the donation process for all the lights. Hidden Horse Outpost is doing free sleigh/wagon rides, this was made possible by donation from Jessica Schaak. The 4H will be on hand selling their wreaths and taking photos with Santa.

“All this to say it is for everyone, with no financial restrictions so it can all be enjoyed,” said Prater.

For locals still looking to get involved with decking the halls for Superior this year. Prater mentioned, “The best way is for people to decorate their own homes and businesses to make coming here a destination for viewing Christmas lights, at this point. All the people and businesses donating is what has really made this possible.”

The core team of volunteers and those brainstorming the arrangements and activities have been Prater and her husband Steve, Jill Betts, Ken and Kathy Verley, Andrew Hanson, Dan Clemts, Lynee Maillet. It takes many helping hands to put together a town project like this, especially when the Prater’s have been extra busy with their own work ventures.

The Prater’s purchased the old Hilltop Motel in April of 2021, as a project to assist in housing in Superior. They are about two weeks out from being completed with all of their major renovations of the property. Prater’s husband also owns Arrow Construction, a licensed and insured construction company. And she also stays busy working from home.

All these roles haven’t prevented Prater from wanting to give back to her town to the town she loves. “My whole heart is this is a community event to celebrate the holidays and bring joy to the town. It started with me wanting to change the narrative but the volunteers, those that donated and all the businesses have been great to partner with. No silo's, no politics, just some good old fashion community.”

For updates and more information on the lighting ceremony event on December 3. Follow on the event page on Facebook.