By Kate Stockrahm
Heading downtown tonight? Look up!
Friends of the Alley (FOTA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to beautifying and activating downtown Flint’s alleyways, has swapped some of its signature soft-yellow overhead bulbs for a more colorful holiday look this year.
“We were actually really excited about that,” said Lori Ross, vice president of FOTA. “I don’t think, in the history of the Friends of the Alley board, they’ve done any type of Christmas activation. So that was high on our priority list.”
But while the change may be subtle for those accustomed to the glow of FOTA’s year-round string lights in Buckham and Brush Alleys, the dots of red and green now in the mix did not come cheaply for the all-volunteer organization.
“I believe it was about a $5,000 to $6,000 investment,” Ross said, which largely went toward the labor necessary for the days-long installation process rather than purchasing the colorful bulbs themselves.
Ross explained that FOTA spends each year fundraising through its two signature events, “Alley Fest” and “Dinner Under the Lights,” which collectively bring thousands of guests to Buckham Alley over the summer and early fall.
Those larger fundraisers allow the board to spend the rest of the year focused on what she called FOTA’s “main function”: “to make sure that the alleys are hospitable and cleaned, as well as making sure that they’re open spaces for everyone in our community to enjoy.” This new holiday feature of FOTA’s work is just one result of that function, she said.
FOTA’s holiday light installation, which spans both Buckham Alley and Brush Alley, was completed on Thursday, Dec. 4. Ross said she anticipates the red and green bulbs will stay up for visitors to downtown’s alleys and adjacent businesses until at least mid-January 2026.
