Easthampton MA. Holiday Lights 2022

**** 8/5/2023 **** - I am working to keep this project going for 2023 - you can find this year's gofundme page here - 2023 - Easthampton Lights Fundraiser - if you would like to make a donation please head over to the new campaign or reach out to me directly. Thank you again. Patrick Brough

***11/21/22*** GOAL ACHIEVED -- THANK YOU all again - as of 2 PM today, I have turned off the donations option for this campaign. We have enough to fund the scaled-back version of this year's lights. Over the next several months, I will develop a plan for 2023. Please feel to reach out to me anytime with thoughts on 2023.

The holiday lights around the city of Easthampton have been a tradition for as long as people can remember. This has always been funded by donations from the business community and residents.

This year the project to fund the lights slipped through the cracks and I found out this week (11/17/22) that there were no funds available and so nothing would be done.

While I know there are many other things that can use funding, this is something I felt I could not let go. The holiday lights around the rotary, at the pond and on Cottage and Union Street have been something that brings a smile to most during the holidays.

With that said, I reached out to the company that does the lighting (The Light Ladies ) and have been working with them. For reference here is what normally has been done:

They would normally have started in mid October to complete the project by last week. The total cost is $14,610. Before anyone says, “ OMG so much”, keep in mind the 31 trees all are done by hand via a bucket truck. This is not a job a couple folks could do in a weekend.

With this information, I wanted to be realistic as to what could be done in a short period of time. I have received a revised quote from Light Ladies that includes:

The new estimate is around $7,500.

I have asked for a realistic goal to complete everything listed above. It is going to be very tight and weather is always a factor, but they feel they can get the rotary and the pond trees done the first week in December.

The trees along the streets may not be done if they hit a point that it may not be worth the amount of time before Christmas.

I am asking for everyone’s help in raising $7,500.

In the event parts are not done then I will allocate what ever is left for next year. Yes, this is a yearly expense that someone needs to fundraise for. I have taken it on this year but will be looking for others to join the process to keep it going. There have been fundraisers in the past that have been great and I am sure can be done again with some planning.

We will also work on some better options for lighting.

So can we make it happen?

You can easily donate here or you can bring a check to me at my office at Finck & Perras (6 Campus Lane).

Feel free to contact me here or by phone of email anytime.