Convention & Visitors Bureau staff turns Welcome Center into Candy Land
Albany Welcome Center transformed into gingerbread house
By Brad McEwen
ALBANY — Downtown Albany got a little more festive Friday when the staff at the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau turned the Bridge House Welcome Center into a holiday Candy Land, both inside and out.
Albany CVB Executive Director Rashelle Beasley said it took her and fellow staffers Gabi Garrett, Teresa Smith and Katie Hughes several days to put together the decorations which were hung Friday, to make both the exterior and interior of the Welcome Center look like a Christmas gingerbread house.
“It was a lot of work, but it was fun,” said Beasley. “I think it looks really good.”
Beasley said the impetus for decorating the building came from a decision made by Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan, who said Front Street had been nicknamed “Candy Land Way” for the holiday season. The CVB staff wanted the building to reflect that theme.
“The city asked us to decorate the building for Christmas, and because this is Candy Land Way, we did a gingerbread house,” said Beasley. “We wanted to make sure we went all out.”
The CVB crew also got some help from the Albany Utility Board, which sent workers over to the building to help hang some of the larger decorations, including giant lollipops.
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