(PUEBLO, Colo.) — The Pueblo Jingle Bell rock is a holiday tradition that has been going on for more than 50 years. This year, that tradition was almost taken away from them.

“It’s fun, it’s exciting,” said Adam Navarette, a longtime Pueblo resident, “it’s something that we like to do here in Pueblo.”

Navarette is describing the Pueblo Jingle Bell Rock, which started at a local radio station — KDZA. Organizers painted a rock and then hid it somewhere in Pueblo.

“The radio station will put out clues, maybe three a day,” said Nichole Vandermark, who started a Facebook page to keep track of all the clues and share winners. “It depends if it’s over the radio clue or if it’s a sponsor — location clues are what they’re called. So, they’ll put the clue at a place and you have to go search all those places every day and see if they have a new clue.”

Nick Donovan, a local and a radio personality, became the voice of the contest in the late 1980s. The Pueblo community got used to seeing him at contest events, and hearing his deep, calming voice read off the clues.

“You have a whole week to see the rock before it’s hidden,” Vandermark said. “And, Nick’s there all the time. He’s meeting everybody, shaking his hand. He’s talking to the kids. Nick is the rock.”

Donovan then transferred to another local radio station owned by iHeart Radio, known as KPHT. But, he didn’t let the contest die, and continued the tradition at his new station.

Decades later, he was let go and he immediately tried to get the rights to the contest, but iHeart Radio went a step further and trademarked the contest.

“It’s just not the same. It’s not the Jingle Bell Rock anymore, and they’ve completely taken it away from him,” Vandermark said.

With the contest set to continue without Donovan, the community then decided to rally behind the local icon.

In a Facebook post, KPHT said:

We are unsure of where people are hearing that this promotion will be tied in with Colorado Springs or Denver. This rumor is completely false, and we would like to clear the air on that. While it is supported and talked about on multiple Springs stations this year (which all air down in Pueblo), this remains a PUEBLO ONLY tradition and contest. We genuinely look forward to sharing this with our Pueblo listeners as we do every year.

KPHT 95.5 Pueblo’s Greatest Hits

It should be noted, KPHT limited who could comment, but it was one of their most widely reacted to recent posts.

“It’s not just a contest, it’s a Pueblo tradition,” said Jozlyn Garcia, a longtime Pueblo resident. “And then for the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce to come in and help with that, I think it just means everything to myself and the Pueblo community.”

And that’s exactly what the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce did. Excitement began buzzing in the Pueblo community when an interesting video appeared on the Chamber’s Facebook page.

“When we first released our first video, kind of a teaser of putting this event together, the response that we got on social media has just been amazing,” said Duane Nava, president of the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber then announced shortly after that it was launching its own contest, bringing back Donovan as the voice of St. Nick’s Pepper Hunt, which kicked off officially on December 13th.

“I think this is extremely positive about our traditions and the people that we really are here in the community,” Garcia said.

Almost immediately, sponsors flooded in to be a part of the contest.

“We love this community,” said Amber Harman, owner of Feelin’ a Little Philly, and sponsor of St. Nick’s Pepper Hunt. “They’ve kept us in business for 15 years. We always try to give back as much as we can through various events throughout the year. It’s just we want to be as good a community members as community is to us.”

“Usually we’re having to call and try to collect sponsors,” Nava said. “And I mean, my phone has been ringing off the hook and people want to get involved in this event.”

Without revealing too much, Nava said this event will be similar to the event Pueblo knows and loves, with a painted rock placed in a hidden spot in Pueblo. Clues will be revealed on the Chamber’s Facebook Page daily. The grand prize continues to increase, but as of Thursday, it was at 10,000 dollars, thanks to all the local sponsors.

For the Pueblo community, they are considering this a hard-fought battle now won, and are thankful to the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce for stepping up and listening to them.

FOX21 reached out to iHeart radio and KPHT 95.5 FM for comment and is waiting to hear back.