It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and that means we Jaycees will be out at 5AM with volunteers from Charter and Tri-County Electric putting up the street decorations all across the city. This year we actually had good communication with the Parks Department here in the city. That helped move things along in a positive direction.

This year I hope it doesn’t rain and is above 40. Getting soaked, honked at, cursed, and freezing kinda dampens the cheery mood (pun intended). Still, it’s worth it to drive through town and be able to tell my kids that I helped put up the decorations. Also, I’m sure someone enjoys them other than just us.

Ever since the city has been maintaining the lights, they haven’t been kept up too well, and we’ve heard the grumblings of the public. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do as a civic organization since the DDC, county, city, and Chamber of Commerce refuse to contribute. The maintenance has been up to the Parks Department, and they just don’t have the time or staff to keep the lights up to par.

Perhaps our good communication this year will lead to these civic entities committing some resources again. Maybe not.