November 10, 2021 10:03AM
by Mariah Melendez, Herald Staff
Credit to The Cheshire Herald
This Saturday, Nov. 13, Cheshire residents will again gather for one of the town’s most anticipated events of the year — Lights of Hope.
Don Walsh, who co-founded the event with his wife Jenifer back in 2005, is excited for this year’s event, and hopes that now, with the COVID-19 pandemic fading in the rearview mirror, residents will gather once again to support their neighbors in need.
“I really love every year that our event comes after Election Day,” Walsh said. “I’ve dedicated a lot of time, away from my campaign, to make sure that it goes off without a hitch each year. It’s just a great opportunity for people to set aside differences and come together for a good cause.”
Walsh, who recently won his re-election bid for the Third District Town Council seat, spoke about how splitting his time between his campaign and the Lights of Hope event has stretched him thin this year.
“My wife and I have been doing this (event) for 17 years — 15 of them have been town-wide. It’s a lot of work,” he said. “If you had told me our organization would be as big as it is now back then, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
This year, Walsh and his team have pre-sold 30,000 luminary bags, which is a 10% increase from last year.
