The mixer also has a special mission to raise awareness for cancer research.
The mixer also has a special mission to raise awareness for cancer research. Clean Bench
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The mixer also has a special mission to raise awareness for cancer research.
There's a whole new look this year for one of the most recognizable holiday sights in northern Vermont.
"Seeing it for the first time is pretty amazing," Kim Ireland of S.D. Ireland said, referring to two of the company's famous concrete mixers, which are decorated in 25-30,000 holiday lights.
The prominent name in excavation and construction has long displayed bright white mixers at community events and has driven them throughout neighborhoods the company serves. While one illuminated white truck is still traveling the region, this year, S.D. Ireland decorated another mixer in vivid pink lights.
"It certainly brings you back to being a kid again," Ireland said Monday in an interview with NBC5 News. "You don't have to be a kid to enjoy that mixer."
Ireland explained the new, distinctive color for the second roving holiday mixer is to remind folks of the company's role in raising money for cutting-edge cancer research at the University of Vermont's Larner College of Medicine.
Over the past 20-plus years, the S.D. Ireland Cancer Research Fund has tallied more than $9 million in donations, Ireland said. Ireland added that the biggest source of funds comes through sponsorships for a St. Patrick's Day mixer parade featuring the company's fleet.
"The community we live in and the way people give is just — I think it's unlike anywhere else," she said.
With the new pink mixer making appearances over the next several weeks, S.D. Ireland hopes the visibility will boost public awareness of the research fund's work to move closer to a cancer cure. The fund has already helped with new understanding about breast cancer therapies and treatments, as NBC5 News reported in 2019.
At an even simpler level, the company said it hopes the holiday mixers will deliver a bit of joy wherever they travel this year.
"Lord knows we need a lot of joy right now," Kim Ireland said. "It's a feel-good thing. People get so wrapped up in getting something for somebody for Christmas when that's really not what it's about. It's about the feelings. That's what brings you back to being a child. I just hope that [the mixer] creates memories for people."
The schedule for the S.D. Ireland holiday mixers is posted in a calendar format on the contractor's website. Ireland noted the schedule is approximate and weather dependent, and it will remain a surprise which events have the pink mixer on display and which events will have the traditional white mixer on view.
Ireland added that some years, a stationary pink truck was displayed at Severance Corners in Colchester. This year, the larger, roving pink truck replaces that mixer, Ireland told NBC5 News. She said she hopes that will give more people the opportunity to see the display.
In 2020, when COVID-19 forced the cancellation of countless holiday events, many Vermonters had renewed appreciation for visits from the lighted mixers they could enjoy outdoors.
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