Joe Sehlhorst, Bluffton council member and cultural affairs committe representative, announced that Christmas in Bluffton is officially over.

Here's portion of an e-mail message from Sehlhorst concerning the removal of the LED lights on the large evergreen tree in the Bluffton Presbyterian Church lawn in mid-March.

"Special thanks goes out to all that helped with the removal of the LED lights on the big Evergreen this past Saturday. Jeff Stratton and Dan Snyder organized finding manpower to get this task done.

"Special thanks to Dan Snyder contacting Gary Luginbihl allowing us to use his lift free of charge. Extra special thanks to Kyle Gratz climbing into the tree and directing the removal of lights. Kyle once again proved to be a natural tree climber.

"Aaron Myers getting velcro to use for wrapping the LED lights. And all others who helped with the removal. I apologize for not mentioning all names who helped, but everyone's job was equally important.

"On Saturday morning,  we had a eight volunteers.Three on the lift. One in the tree. Four on the ground.

"We began at 8 a.m. and finished up around 10 a.m.. Kyle said it took about 1 hour less time to take down as it does putting up."

Sehlhorst said that next year's Blaze has plans for the Village to purchase additional LED lights for a second tree.