Avenue of Angels have graced College Avenue in Appleton for 65 years. Efforts are underway to raised $50,000 to help refurbish the angels. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – With temperatures reaching 60 degrees on Friday, it didn’t feel like the holiday season outside, but it certainly looks like it in Appleton.
The iconic “Avenue of Angels” returned to light posts along College Avenue this week.
“I love them. It’s just been a fixture around this city for as many years as I can ever remember growing up. They’ve just always been there. So it’s really cool that we still have them,” said Appleton resident, Jenny Seidl.
Their return signifying the start of the holiday season.
According to Abby Novak with Appleton Downtown, Inc., “I know it’s it’s very hard to, you know, pinpoint a specific time, but the angels are a great indicator of the kickoff to the holiday season.”
A tradition started on the Ave in the the 1960’s, the angels have seen it all. Their arrival every fall is something residents and visitors keep close tabs on too.
“We love them. We really do. We look forward to them every year,” said Jo and Jerry Bohren of Appleton.
And this year’s angels are sparkling just a little bit more.
A campaign, earlier this year, helped to raise thousands of dollars to revamp the decorations.
Novak said, “It was a labor of love and it was all due to those amazing donors that we had in the beginning of the year that we were able to restore and redo all of that to keep them shining bright.”
It took only days to raise the fund to fix the angels and now they’re up, spreading holiday cheer.
“Christmas is coming. It’s a great time. My favorite time of the year,” said Seidl.
Novak added, “Every year it just it brings chills to me and especially now with that brand new garland to see that shimmer in the sunshine and the wind that you have down here was incredible. And it always brings a smile to my face. And I know it brings a smile to a lot of people’s faces in the community when they see them.”
And those smiles will only get bigger when the intersection angels go up next week.
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