Great Falls aglow from warmth of lights

Every year, they come. They come in the cold and the dark in hopes of feeling a little warmth and light as the name of their deceased loved one is read out loud into the night sky.

The annual Community Beautification Association tree lighting ceremony on Sunday evening at Overlook Park in Great Falls featured reading the names of more than 400 deceased community members before the switch was flipped and a Christmas wonderland appeared, as nearly every tree in the park was adorned in lights.

"It's magic. It just warms the heart," said Linda Say, vice president of the Community Beautification Association.

The Community Beautification Association pays for the electricity that runs the lights. People can contact the association to have names of lost loved ones read aloud during the lighting ceremony. Donations to the CBA are accepted, but not required to participate.

Don and Jo Lorang needed to feel some of that warmth. Not quite a year ago, they lost their 37-year-old son Keith Lorang to complications from diabetes.

"I don't even remember Christmas last year," Jo Lorang said.

But Christmas was their son's favorite time of year and this year, the Lorang family is hoping it can not only be a time to remember Keith, but to celebrate the joy of the season with their granddaughters.

"We all have special ornaments in his memory and we light candles in his memory," Jo Lorang said.

Now, there's a Christmas light — or thousands — twinkling in his name.

"It doesn't seem real after a year," said Keith's brother Jason Lorang. "Keith was always excited about Christmas. This was actually one of his favorite places to drive by."

Lily Allen's 48-year-old son Kirk "Randy" Allen died two years ago from a sudden heart attack. It's still hard for her to believe her son's no longer here.

"I don't think any parent should have to lose a child," she said.

She wasn't able to have her son's name read during last year's ceremony, but this year she started asking around early and got Kirk's name on the list as soon as she could.

"Christmas was important to him," she said. "He made sure everyone had two or three presents. It's part of inclusion for me."

She tries to keep the memory of her son alive as much as she can, which is why Allen said it was important to her on Sunday to hear her son's name.

City Commissioner Bill Bronson started reading the names after Great Falls High's Delphian Choir sang the first verse of "Silent Night."

In the quiet and the dark he started: "Stanley Ackerman."

Soon after came Kirk "Randy" Allen's name, then the name of Keith Lorang and hundreds of others.

Then at last Bronson said, "Troy Zindell," as nearly every tree in the park, branches wound with strands and strands of lights, started to glow.