Allendale County partners light up downtown for holidays, organizers say

Downtown Allendale lit up in December 2025 after a community-driven initiative organized by Lottie P. Lewis and supported by local businesses and institutions, organizers said. The People Sentinel featured the effort on Feb. 18, 2026, crediting the “Community Trim-A-Tree” challenge with turning a season once described as “blighted” into one of renewed civic pride.

Lottie P. Lewis, identified in the People Sentinel as a “Rural Arts Council Maven” and former town councilmember, invited neighbors and businesses to “adopt” locations on Main Street, at the Allendale Farmers’ Market and around the Allendale County Courthouse to create coordinated displays of lights and decorations. Mrs. Lewis asked for a display of “love, unity, and joy” as the central theme of the effort, a framing organizers say guided participation across downtown.

Private investors and hometown entrepreneurs joined the call. The Lily Bell Group, LLC, described as “a team of homegrown legacy siblings,” invested entrepreneurial resources “into the heart of downtown Allendale,” according to the People Sentinel. A Lily Bell Group representative said, “We wanted to change the paradigm and give residents a reason to look up and see hope,” a line organizers cite as emblematic of the project’s aims to shift local sentiment and foot traffic.

Public institutions and local firms pitched in alongside private backers. Named partners in the project included Palmetto State Bank, Laffitte & Warren Medical Center, Gooding & Gooding, P.A., Allendale Farmers’ Market and Main Street, with the Allendale County Courthouse hosting displays and activity near its square. Organizers wrote that “Unity in Action supported by other community collaboration - from the Allendale County Courthouse, Laffitte & Warren Medical Center, Gooding & Gooding, P.A., Palmetto State Bank, Allendale Farmers’ Market, Main Street and in - between, we all applaud your willing participation,” language used to document broad participation.

The People Sentinel described visual results in vivid terms used by organizers: the lights created “a new radiance reflecting off the windows of downtown Allendale” and produced “the glow of a community rediscovered,” language that the article says marks a narrative shift as the holiday season “shifted from ‘past tense’ to ‘present joy.’” Organizers told the Sentinel the season “will be long remembered,” and concluded that “Allendale is shining.”

Organizers and partners say the decoration drive was intended as both celebration and civic renewal, with the People Sentinel calling the event the “Community Trim-A-Tree Celebration” and saying it “successfully turned the town into a beautiful display of togetherness, proving that while Allendale’s history is long, its brightest chapters are currently being written.” Residents and partner groups are continuing conversations about follow-up events and maintenance for downtown displays in the months ahead.