It may only be September but it’s never too early to get into the holiday spirit. The Bemidji Jaycees have already taken the first steps into their yearly tradition of turning Bemidji into a winter wonderland.

The Bemidji Public Works building looked a little like Santa’s Workshop yesterday as a team of people began unwrapping and organizing the more than 300,000 Christmas lights that will be used in the annual First City of Lights holiday display. This year promises to be brighter than ever.

They haven’t announced the new display just yet, but all of the lights will first be illuminated at the yearly “Night We Light” celebration in November.

By — Betsy Melin