Yellowknife (Dec 06/06) - They huddle around the tree, shifting around, their decorations carefully held in their hands as they decide the best spot to place them.

For Yellowknife's kindergarten students, there's nothing more complicated than getting a tree ready for Christmas.

For these kids it's more than just getting it ready for Santa Claus's arrival, though.

It's making sure the Christmas tree is perfect for all of Yellowknife as they will be on public display at the legislative assembly.

Also working to make Christmas just right for Yellowknife are city and legislative assembly staff.

A recent change to the Christmas light-up tradition is the lighting scheme.

"We got a grant to help us towards switching over to LED lights," Brian Kelln, program manager with community services department said.

He said this is an advantage because the bulbs last "forever," and it saves "something like 70 per cent of the (electricity) cost."

The majority of the lights will now be LED, which will allow the city to leave the lights in the trees year round, and as the tree grows they just add more lights, according to Kelln.

Patricia Russell, the legislative assembly's public affairs and community advisor, is looking forward to the Christmas lights being turned on Thursday night.

Russell said that the number of trees with decorations at the legislature have been reduced down this year, but the display will feature coloured floodlights.

"We get quite a crowd here," she said of the annual event. "This room will be filled with children."

The event, titled Christmas Lights Across Canada, is co-ordinated with legislative assemblies across the country.

"We combine it with the kids Christmas trees," said Russell. "It's really quite pretty when we turn on the lights."

With 285 kindergarten students coming in from across Yellowknife, the school trees promise to be unique.

The theme for this year's Christmas trees is red; schools were therefore encouraged to incorporate red decorations with their trees.

City Hall's lights will be turned on at 5 p.m. on Thursday, while the display at the legislative assembly will be kicked off at 5:30 p.m., allowing parents and children to walk from one building to another.

Hot chocolate will be served at the legislative assembly.

Russell and Kelln were cryptic when they also mentioned a "special guest" paying the legislative assembly a visit that night.