NEBRASKA CITY – City commissioners denied a request to decorate three downtown bumpouts for Christmas at a meeting Monday, but Linda Holmes says it was the result of a misunderstanding and she plans to renew her request at the next December meeting.

Holmes, who operated Thrifty Treasures in 2009 at 801 Central Ave., where she offered free milk through Now Time Ministry with her late husband Albert Zook, said she had been in contact with City Clerk Randy Dunster about the decorations but did not realize she was on the meeting agenda Monday.

Holmes, who wrote Christian devotions in the local newspaper under the pen name Mash Potato Girl, is currently a paying contributor with a Christian message in the local newspaper.

 

 Linda Holmes with Santa and friends at the food bank

She says she contacted downtown businesses about what they would like to see in the bumpouts. Although she has purchased a nativity scene, she said other decorations will feature Santa Claus, snowmen and  traditional Christmas themes.

At Monday’s meeting, city commissioners denied her request to decorate three bumpouts near Sixth and Seventh streets after Dunster said he had not received photos of the proposed decorations as he requested.

Holmes said she is purchasing decorations and will be sending photos to Dunster this week. She expects to contribute $2,000 toward decorations and is hoping local businesses will contribute decorations that they can keep year-to-year.

She said she “much loves” the bumpout flowers during the growing season and notices the decorations for the fall. She believes Christmas decorations will be well received in Nebraska City as well.

Decorations in the Keeping Room

In 2021, city commissioners approved a three-year,  $64,000 project for professional care of the bumpouts.

Although bumpout work had begun, a motion for the bumpout funds initially failed when then-Finance Commissioner Gloria Glover’s motion did not receive a second amidst opposition from Commissioner Patrick Wehling and former public works commissioner Paul Davis. Mayor Bryan Bequette and former street commissioner Vic Johns were absent.

At the next meeting, Bequette and Johns voted with Glover to pass the bumpout funds.

Holmes said she is receiving feedback that the bumpouts should have a uniform decoration theme, such as candy canes, but said it has been difficult to find a lot of battery-operated displays, so she is pursuing a variety of decorations from what is available commercially now.

She said if people do not like what she is able to accomplish this season, she hopes an organization like NCTC or the Creative District will take over the bumpout decorations in the years to come.