Deck the (town) halls
During the holiday season, many boroughs and townships transform their streets into winter wonderlands with wreaths, garland, strings of lights and other seasonal embellishments.
The holiday atmosphere doesn't just magically happen the day after Thanksgiving; it is the result of the preparation and planning of community members, volunteers and staff.
More than two dozen volunteers mounted snowflake-shaped lights along Main Street the Sunday before Thanksgiving, said Becky Smith, Main Street Manager for Butler Downtown."This year we tried to get the word out and find more volunteers, and we had a great turnout," Smith said.It took about three hours for community volunteers and Armstrong Cable employees to hang the fixtures from Wayne Street to Penn Street, said coordinator Bob Moore, former owner of Milo Williams Jewelers on Main Street and former Downtown Butler Association board member.Though he is retired, Moore remains an active volunteer."I believe in Butler," he said. "I believe in downtown."This year's effort was relatively inexpensive for the city, Smith said, since Armstrong provided the trucks.The city owns between 150 and 200 of the fixtures, but did not purchase replacement bulbs because plenty are left from last year, Smith said."There are probably close to 100 bulbs per snowflake and they burn out relatively quickly," Smith said.Butler County Ford houses the lights at no charge during the offseason, Moore said.Butler County Vocational Technical School students also painted festive scenes on many storefront windows before Thanksgiving.Smith eventually hopes to extend the decorations to the new bridges and the south side of Butler so more people can get into the holiday spirit."I had someone tell me, 'I come to work in the dark and I leave in the dark in the winter, and it's just lovely to walk out of work and see how beautiful the snowflakes look,'" Smith said. "It adds some flavor to the holidays and makes the downtown look really nice."
It takes two borough workers a few days to string lights in about 10 trees along Main Street in Mars, said borough maintenance manager Howard Bohnet.They strive to finish before Thanksgiving, but chilly weather is sometimes unavoidable."We have been known to be up there in 20 degree weather with 20 mile per hour winds," he said. "With the nicer weather this year, it was done almost three weeks early."With 100 lights per strand, Bohnet estimates that workers put up no less than 300 lights per tree."We don't just throw them up and walk away," he said. "We run them up and along each branch, tying them all off, so that when it's lit, it actually looks like a tree."Last year, the borough purchased red garlands with bright lights that are woven around the lamp poles in a spiral shape.Timers keep the holiday lights shining from 5 to 11 p.m., although the streetlights themselves stay on all night.The fire department also decorates a tree in the town square that takes center stage on Light Up Night, Bohnet said.Visible decorations like the banners and wreaths are taken down right after New Year's. Although the lights are no longer lit, they remain up until borough workers have time to remove them.Workers use wire cutters to snip the strands and pull everything down at once. Each year, the borough purchases all new lights for about $100 total.Despite the challenges, decorating downtown is worth it because it makes Mars a welcoming place for residents and visitors alike, Bohnet said."It keeps the town alive," Bohnet said. "It makes it a happy place, so to speak, a festive, joyful place."
Many of Saxonburg's holiday decorations are mounted in preparation for the borough's Light Up Night, said parade coordinator Joyce Hutterer.Some of Hutterer's favorite sights are the luminarias that shine brightly along Main Street during the parade and other holiday festivities.Hutterer has been involved with the parade for about 12 years and remembers that it used to be held during daylight hours.The daytime parade was enjoyable, but Hutterer thought the visuals would be more powerful in the evening."They had luminarias out on Friday night and the town looked really pretty," she said. "We thought, wouldn't it be nice to have a parade at night when the town looks so nice?"In the past, luminarias were made from plastic milk jugs. Now, the luminarias are all handmade, constructed from glass Mason jars with candles suspended inside by a wire."I think we have about 300 of them by now," she said. "My family started making them one year and we all sat around and put them together, then the neighbors got involved."The project grew each year with more community members pitching in; for instance, residents at senior centers like Concordia and Outlook Point made luminarias as a craft project."It's more of a community outreach now," Hutterer said.Local Boy Scout troops help light the luminarias and then take them down after the parade, she said, which is a great help.Those walking along Main Street will also notice storefronts decorated by business owners and two banners hung by the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Department.In addition, the Saxonburg Historical and Restoration Commission strings lights around lampposts and decorates Roebling Park for the holiday season, said Hutterer."There's a tree lit up there and it's really beautiful," she said.
Zelienople borough staff members arranged lighted wreaths along Main Street and help prepare equipment for the Santa house run by the business association, said borough manager Don Pepe."There's a sound system attached to that, so it takes a couple of days," Pepe said. "But it's not an enormous project."One of Zelienople's biggest draws is the Santa house, which must be moved each year to the corner of Grandview Avenue and Main Street, said Neal Jackson, Zelienople-Harmony Chamber of Commerce treasurer.This year, the business association enlisted the help of Wallace Towing to transport the miniature red and white house from Zelie Mini Storage."We have volunteers who paint and make sure it's looking nice," said Jackson. "They do any repairs that might need to be done from sitting all summer, and they put the decorations up inside."The Kiwanis Club built the current house and donated it more than 10 years ago and the club still supplies candy for the children who visit, Jackson said."People find they like to come to a small town where they can see Santa Claus in a nice atmosphere, instead of in a mall or something," said Jackson.After the holidays, borough employees plan around their winter responsibilities when dismantling the decorations, Pepe said."If we're doing other things like salt removal or if there's a lot of snow out on the streets because of the plowing, that makes it more difficult," Pepe said."But we do it as soon as we can after the holidays are over."More than a dozen members of Boy Scout Troop 457 help take down the trees in time to properly dispose of them.Community members and merchants alike appreciate the décor and the Santa house, Pepe said."It's good for the Main Street merchants and it makes Zelie look very nice," he said.
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