Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 14/01) - The sun has stopped rising on Inuvik, but when you go for fries in this town, it doesn't hurt to wear your shades.

The Christmas lights are on at To-Go's Take-Out, and they're bright.

That's the way owner Denis Savoie likes them. Almost every surface of his building is covered in lights. "It's Christmas spirit and I hope other people will decorate too," he says. "At home in New Brunswick, it's very big, and it's very beautiful."

Savoie gets his Christmas decorating out of the way in November before the weather gets too cold. It takes the whole day, with one helper, to get the lights -- all 6,000 bulbs -- strung out. He doesn't turn them on until Dec. 1, and he usually keeps the place lit until early January.

The To-Go's Christmas display began four years ago when Savoie's son Beau, then four-years-old, asked him for Christmas lights. Since then, it's been an annual tradition.

"People like it and the kids love it," he says. The kids like it a little too much -- they tend to steal lights and throw them on the street. "That's the only thing negative about it," Savoie says. Last year, he lost 200 bulbs and this year, he's already down 37.

The mischief doesn't stop Savoie from adding new items to his display each year. Last year, he won the town contest for best decorated business. It came with a $250 cash prize and a jacket.

His motto? "Everything works." Although he says he doesn't do much planning, the display comes together with a certain festive flair.

"It doesn't matter how you make it," he explains. "It's Christmas spirit and people love it. I'm challenging other people to do the same, to have a good Christmas spirit."