A very bright idea

Wow! Don’t those two large evergreen trees with all the Christmas lights look great as you approach the business square coming up the hill from the Highway 6/13 junction?

We’ve got alderman John Whitfield to thank. John actually owns one of the homes (311 N. Main), which is why he insisted on paying for the lights on that tree. Obviously, the homeowner across the street, Jason Benedict at 310 N. Main, was also on board. Each property owner signed a liability release and permission agreement for this bright idea to happen and … ta-dah!

Kudos also go to utility workers Chris Plant and Eric Kloepping, earning recognition as our local Christmas light experts. The city installed separate electric drop boxes for the holiday tree light display — which is a great example of a community project that everyone I know applauds and really enjoys.

What better entrance for the outstanding Christmas light display on the courthouse yard?  Although there have been many good Christmas displays in times past, light displays on the square offer the best stage to showcase what Gallatin can offer.

This takes work. Every holiday season I am reminded how frustrating it is to get just one string of light bulbs all glowing at the same time. I can only guess how many hours are spent getting all the displays on the courthouse lawn to twinkle and shine on time. But their effort is certainly appreciated.
As is yours.

The third annual “Light Up the Night” Christmas decorating contest is underway. There is no entry fee. The friendly competition is easily divided between residences and commercial with winners awarded a credit on your January 2019 electric bill.

Wondering if your place is good enough to compete? Well, compare to previous residence winners Stacy and Kristy Burns, Chuck and Connie Greever, and Bill and Becca Hodges. The team of out-of-town and local judges usually has a tougher time deciding residential winners because commercial entries thus far have been few.

Where does this tradition of Christmas lights come from? Historically speaking, the Smithsonian magazine shines the light on Edward Hibberd Johnson, the man behind the more famous Thomas Edison.

While Edison was a 24-year-old inventor, Johnson made himself useful turning Edison’s brainstorms into cash. In 1877 after Edison invented the phonograph, Johnson took the machine on tour and charged admission to admiring crowds. When Edison patented the light bulb in 1880 and practical use was still decades away, Johnson and others invested $35,000 to form the Edison Lamp Company to sell the bulbs.

So, it comes as no surprise that the tradition of Christmas lights is not particularly ancient. Erecting a Christmas tree — popularized in England by Queen Victoria’s husband in 1841 — spread when President Franklin Pierce put one up at the White House in 1856. And Johnson simply saw another way to make a buck.

Setting up a tree by the street-side window of his parlor, Johnson hand-wired 80 red, white and blue light bulbs and strung them around the tree. The pedestal and lights were  powered by a generator, all revolving to command attention of those walking by. Johnson turned his stunt into a tradition by adding more lights year by year.

The Smithsonian reports how Johnson’s lights weren’t cheap. A string of 16 vaguely flame-shaped bulbs sitting in brass sockets the size of shot glasses sold for a pricey $12 (about $350 in today’s money) in 1900. But in 1894 President Cleveland put electric lights on the White House tree, and by 1914, a 16-foot string cost just $1.75.

By the 1930s, colored light bulbs and cones were seen everywhere each Christmas.

Today an estimated 150 million light sets are sold in America each year, adding to the tangled millions stuffed into boxes each January. They light 80 million homes and consume 6% of the nation’s electrical load each December.

The Smithsonian magazine also reports that the record of lights at a home, lawn included, is 601,736 bulbs. Whoa! Can you imagine how tough it would be to untangle all the strings necessary to break that record?

Let’s opt for quality rather than quantity. That’s why I can’t think of a better way for Gallatin to offer a visual impact for folks coming into town than putting lights on the two large evergreens on North Main Street. It’s rather unique, having matching trees at the gateway into town. We’ve driven past these evergreens hundreds if not thousands of times over the years without recognizing the opportunity. How ’bout you?

So, thank you, John, for the bright idea, for visualizing something good and then helping it to happen. Hopefully this will inspire other community projects not just for the holidays but whenever opportunity allows. Good things happen when we look for them and then demonstrate a little initiative on the ol’ follow through.

And thanks to all who put up decorations to make this season around town a little more festive and distinctive. You don’t have to win a contest to be appreciated. On the other hand, you might as well enter ’cause you might just win! It’s mostly just for fun. Enter on www.FriendsofGallatin.org