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BELPRE - For more than two decades people have come from all around the area to look at the festive holiday lighting displays in and around Belpre.

For organization president Darien Lorentz, the Belpre Holiday Lights Festival is a labor of love that he spends thousands of hours working on each year.

"Really, the lights are all about getting involved to make a better community," said Lorentz, 64. "I enjoy everything I do with the holiday lights and love to see it grow."

The lighting displays, which include poinsettia, angels and a carousel, all made of colored strings of lights with metal frames, are added to each year with four new displays this year.

"This year's new displays are a Mid-Ohio Valley Widetracker's logo, an animated show for Leavitt's Funeral Home that states 'People, like snowflakes, are unique,' a cup with candy canes and a holiday stocking filled with gifts.

"Not only have we created these new displays, but we have also rebuilt 18 of the old displays because they were getting old and worn out," Lorentz said. "We are also working on 12 new displays for next year."

This will be the 21st year for the festival, which began in 1989 with Bob Jackson and the Belpre Woman's Club placing two doves near the Belpre Bridge.

"We now have over 100 displays and many of them have multiple parts, such as the carousel, which has 13 pieces, but we consider it one display," Lorentz said.

The popular holiday lights displays are currently being placed around the city, in parks, along roadways and on buildings. About 30 percent of the displays are animated with lighted movement and often tell a story.

There are some displays that are staples in certain spots in throughout the area - such as the carousel's placement in Civitan Park - but others are moved around each year to allow people to see all of the lights the committee has made.

"The lights are moved to different spots each year," Lorentz said. "We often get phone calls from people who said they noticed the new displays and those displays are several years old, we just put them in a new location."

About 18 members of the Belpre Holiday Lights Committee work 11 months each year designing, building and placing displays in their Gene Street building to be placed around the city and in Civitan and Howes Grove parks during each holiday season.

"There is a lot we work on throughout the year to make the festival everything people expect and want," Lorentz said. "This is really a year-round project that takes all of the members to get things done.

"We could always use more volunteers with new ideas."

One of the original members of the festival was former Belpre Mayor Dick Thomas, who died earlier this year after an extended illness.

Lorentz said Thomas not only was a volunteer and a financial contributor, but he was a friend and hard worker for the holiday lights organization.

"Dick is very much missed and will never be replaced," Lorentz said.

This year's Belpre Holiday Lights Festival will begin at 6 p.m. Nov. 25 with the displays illuminating the city with holiday spirit between 6 and 11 p.m. every night through Jan. 2.

The annual Festival of Lights Parade will be held Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. and will include floats, walking groups, carolers and horses and riders from individuals and groups throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley.

All participants in the parade, which is sponsored by the lights committee and coordinated by the Belpre Lions Club, are required to be illuminated with Christmas lights and reflect the holiday spirit, said committee member Nancy Sams.

"The parade is for the enjoyment of the community and is a night-time lights parade," Sams said.

Continuing with tradition, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on the last float in the parade and will greet children at the bandstand gazebo in Civitan Park immediately following the parade courtesy for the Belpre Woman's Club.

Because of the evening darkness and for the safety of all involved, the parade committee asks that all candy be handed out, not thrown to the audience, Sams warned.

Also as a part of the lights festival, the Belpre Woman's Club is sponsoring the Miss and Mister Christmas Pageants for area children ages 6 to 17 in three categories. Interviews will begin 10 a.m. Nov. 21 at the Lawton Building, with the program at 1 p.m. Applications are available at Peoples Bank or by contacting Sandy Kirk at (740) 423-8177.

For more information on the Belpre Holiday Lights Festival and committee: Lorentz at (740) 423-5067 or Sams at (740) 423-7382.