19th Annual Dawson Creek Tree Light Up Celebration

The weather for this year's annual Tree Light Up was a bit chilly, it was minus 20 something on the morning of November 19, and we almost decided to stay home by the fire instead of getting all bundled up and driving in to town, but we had arranged to meet some friends, so away we went.

The City of Dawson Creek moved the Mile O Post to a temporary location at the Northern Alberta Railway Park, a block north of it's usual home and put up a 35-40 foot tree in it's place and draped it with multi-colored lights. The streets have been decorated with big white snowflakes and it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here.

I'm glad we went because it turned out to be a great community party and the cold weather actually added to the fun. It's nice to offer events like this to both the people who live here and also the many who find themselves far away from home and staying in our hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts.

Many of the local businesses were open for the light up celebration and some were handing out hot chocolate, hot cider, popcorn and even glow sticks.

There were kids of all ages mingling around and of course Santa was there too.

19th Annual Dawson Creek Tree Light Up Celebration

The Mile O Post: One Of The Most Photographed Landmarks In Canada

Anyone who lives here in Dawson Creek is used to driving carefully through the downtown core so as not to run over the frequent tourists jaywalking into the middle of the intersection to have their photo taken on our world famous Mile O Post.

Its quite common to see local residents offering to take the photo so that everyone gets in the picture. I wonder how many photos of our post exist. I know I've taken my fair share for all of our out of town guests.

The Mile O Post is one of the most recognizable and frequently photographed landmarks in Canada. It symbolizes the beginning of the Alaska Highway and lists the distances to major destinations along the highway in miles.

• Fort St. John 48
• Fort Nelson 300
• Whitehorse 918
  
• Delta Junction 1398
• Fairbanks 1523

The original post sat a couple of blocks away at the traffic circle, but apparently someone ran into it in 1946, so it was replaced and moved to the center of town especially for visitors to our community.

Make sure you touch a piece of history when you come to Dawson Creek and have your picture taken at the Mile O Post.

Don't hesitate to ask one of us to take the photo for you, we're always glad to do it.

The Mile O Post: One Of The Most Photographed Landmarks In Canada