Relight the Night efforts receive Esto Perpetua awards

In the last decade, many of the neon signs that line the streets of Old Town Pocatello have seen new life through the efforts of Relight the Night and the committee’s chair Randy Dixon.

On June 3, both Dixon and the committee were honored with Esto Perpetua awards at a ceremony in Boise.

Dixon and the committee have relit 15 signs, including the one that was once part of the iconic Chief Theater, since 2013.

Dixon, 70, says his historic preservation efforts all began with the theater and the ball has never stopped rolling.

“We weren’t even through with the Chief Theater restoration before we realized that our goal was to relight every piece of neon we could find in Old Town Pocatello and in an effort to preserve the history of all of those signs,” he said.

“So it was probably a year into the project when we realized, wait a minute, we’re not even close to done, we have lots of work to do. And we’ve stuck with it, and we have accomplished some things, with the help of the community, that few communities are fortunate enough to have achieved,” Dixon explained.

Awards and all the efforts won’t stop. Dixon says the next project involves the old Buster Brown shoe sign, which will be part of a neon alley concept on Union Pacific Ave.