Contributed HOLIDAY SPIRIT — Nathan Sempkowski, a junior in the auto body collision program at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School, adds some paint to holiday décor that will line the streets of New Alexandria.

BLOOMINGDALE — Three programs at the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School are helping one local community ring in the holiday season by sprucing up some decor.

Welding, auto body collision and electrical trades students are involved in redesigning Christmas lights for New Alexandria and should have them ready in time for the yuletide lighting. Electrical trades instructor Buddy Davis, who is handling the project, said the school has been assisting local villages for at least five years and students get a chance to give something back.

“We did half of their lights last year,” he said, adding that pupils rewired snowflake adornments and added new lights, so they were all aglow along the streetscape.

This time, the three programs pitched in to redesign 13 candle lights with Todd Parker’s students welding the new wreaths and Russell Achhammer’s auto body collision class painting the frames. Davis’s students will rewire and add some new bulbs for illumination, and he said the lights should be ready by December.

“We’re building them from scratch and changed the design. We took the old candle design and created wreaths with candles inside,” he explained.

“They were prepped at the end of last year and the welding class started on them in mid-September. Hopefully we’ll get them by the end of the month and will do the wiring, lights and decorations. We’re trying to get them back by Thanksgiving.”

Davis said the JVS has aided other communities including Hopedale, Adena and Amsterdam with similar projects and students appreciate seeing their work dotting the local streets.