Public Works Crews String Lights, Garland to Beautify for Holidays

COURT HOUSE – While most homeowners may wait until after Thanksgiving before decorating their homes for the Christmas holidays, the local departments of public works have been decorating for the past couple of weeks. They have done this in anticipation of a myriad of holiday events that kick off the season. 
Armed with hundreds of strings of lights, boxes full of fresh garland, evergreen trees, reindeer and snowflakes, representatives from Avalon, Cape May and Stone Harbor recently shared how their employees ready each community for the upcoming Christmas-holiday season.
Start in October
William Macomber, Avalon’s director of public works and utilities, said his team starts decorating the borough in late October. They worked with the goal of being ready for the annual tree lighting event Nov. 24.
That event was part of a weekend of activities that took residents and visitors from Thanksgiving and a turkey trot to the tree lighting and arrival of Santa Claus aboard a fire truck almost overnight.
“It takes four men about 30-40 days to complete our decorating,” Macomber said.
The crew hung 102,500 light bulbs, or about 19.4 miles of wire from 32nd Street and Dune Drive to 19th Street and Dune Drive, Avalon’s business district.
They also include 30th Street from Dune to Ocean Drives.
“The centerpiece for the decorations is the holiday tree that is lit at Veterans Plaza, always held the day after Thanksgiving,” added Avalon Business Administrator Scott Wahl.
The 31-foot tree is decorated with 1,000 silver and gold balls, watched over by a couple of 8-foot-tall toy soldiers. Ten blue-and-white Christmas ornaments flank the grounds.
“The entire downtown business district along Dune Drive is illuminated with lights in the trees to bring the spirit of the holiday during the season,” Wahl said. “We have replaced many of the lights with LED lights as they last longer, use less energy and require much less maintenance.”
Besides a display in front of Avalon Borough Hall, 49 lighted sculptures and decorations were put up throughout the business district. The Chamber of Commerce building, Little Fire House, and pavilion at Veterans Plaza are wrapped with lights.
A 17-foot lighted tree with three reindeer are wrapped in a corral between 19th and 18th streets; the deer are in a new barn built this year.
“Every year we look at how we can do more,” noted Eric Glenz, Avalon DPW senior equipment operator, who heads the decorating. Between 21st and 22nd streets on Dune Drive, an Avalon lifeguard boat surrounded with holly, red ornaments, and red bows is ready for family holiday photos.
Juggling Fall, Christmas
Cape May’s DPW started decorating after Veterans Day, as they juggle that holiday with fall cleanup activities, according to DPW Superintendent Joe Picard.
Much of their effort is focused on decorating Rotary Park, where the city’s Christmas tree will be lit 7 p.m. Dec. 1, and the business district including the Washington Street Mall and Lafayette Street, the city’s gateway.
“The DPW puts fresh garland, bows, and lights around Rotary Park,” Picard said. “The tree was put up and decorated the week after Thanksgiving.”
Snowflakes, made from lights, are hung on nearly all poles on the Mall, and merchants are given garland to decorate them.
Then the DPW returns to hang lights on the garland and poles. Banners are hung on the streets; City Hall is decorated, and a large wreath graces Convention Hall, he added.
“We’ve been doing this for at least 31 years,” Picard said, about the decorating, “probably longer.”
The goal is to be ready for the annual West Cape May Community Christmas parade, in its 52nd year. That parade is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Dec. 2 with a rain date Dec. 3.
“We have to get out of the fall mode and into the Christmas mode pretty quickly,” Picard said, noting 9,000 lights, most of them LED, are put up.
“Maintaining everything is also quite a job because the wind or a storm can knock out the lights,” he added.
The lights will remain up until after New Year’s Day.
Decorating Dates to 1960s
In Stone Harbor where memories recall the borough being decorated in the 1960s, Miranda Duca, director of recreation, said the DPW started decorating after Veterans Day.
They worked in anticipation of its tree lighting ceremony Nov. 24 and parade Nov. 25. One of the parking lots was turned into a replica of Bedford Falls, the fictional town in which the American Christmas drama, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and Philip Van Doren Stern’s 1943 short story, “The Greatest Gift,” were set, for the events.
Although white lights hang on the trees year-round, garland with fish are wrapped around light poles along the borough’s main business district, mostly the 200 block between 98th and 94th streets.
A highlight, according to Duca, is a wooden tree the DPW makes from used pallets. Wreaths are hung on the doors of all municipal buildings, as well.
Seasonal flags are hung from poles in the business district, and by the time the DPW was finished, Duca said 20,000 LED lights were strung, and about 500 feet of garland hung.
Decorating Their Homes?
When the communities are decorated, are the DPW employees ready to decorate their own homes? “Absolutely!,” quipped Picard.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.