Holiday lights need continued support
The holiday season is almost upon us. Thanksgiving is this week and Christmas is just around the corner. The Christmas parade is at 5 p.m. Sunday, followed by an expanded aerial fireworks display and lighting of the Christmas lights in the downtown area.
Let me give you a little history. It wasn't that long ago that we didn't have the parade or the lights on the buildings. My wife, Susie has revived the parade, along with her helpers (Debra Buser and Shawna Winter) and three years ago I put together a Christmas light committee, consisting of Susan Marshall and Pam Lamborn under the umbrella of the city council.
With many individuals and groups donating on a one-time basis or through a monthly addition to their water bill, we accumulated funds for the project. We had new electricity run on either side of the main business district for the lights, bought lights, and had them installed on the buildings in the downtown area.
One of the key elements of the plan is maintenance of the lights. This is accomplished through the monthly contribution that people elected to have added to their water bill ($1, $3, $5, or an elected amount). This has worked well, but the monthly contributions have declined from a high of almost $200 a month to approximately $150 at the present time. (Thanks to all who continue to contribute.)
We have a contractor who comes in each fall and checks the lighting system, fixes any electrical problems, as well as changes out the bad bulbs. This past year, in addition to the usual weather damage, we had some vandalism to the lights and as a result, more than 900 bulbs had to be replaced.
In our initial plan we had hoped to do some additional set piece lighting at various locations in town, including Santa Fe Park (which was done last year and this year by the parade committee), the park by the bank, and the old high school lot, to name but a few. We talked about putting some type of lights or banners on the light poles on Walnut Street. As I mentioned, with the monthly water contributions we are able to maintain our existing lights, but not able to do much more.
We want to do all the things I mentioned and more, but need your help in doing so. Winfield has a great Christmas light display that many people drive in to see. Our possibilities are only limited by our imagination and I hate to say it — funding.
If you would like to make a donation to the Christmas light fund you can do so at the Peabody State Bank, city building, or contact me, Susan Marshall, or Pam Lamborn. If you aren't contributing through the water bill, please do so.
Help us light up Peabody even brighter during the holiday season.
— Tom Schmidt
