Christmas Lights are new in Lawrence
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December 3, 2020
Russ Menke works high above Main Street in Lawrence last week installing the new Christmas light for the village. Through the cooperation of the village and the Lawrence Community Club, new lights greet travelers for the first time since 1996.
Christmas lights are shining . . .
Now into December, the countryside is slowly gaining its Christmas glow.
Russ Menke was busy last week putting up a total of 29 Christmas lights in the village of Lawrence to help usher in the holy season with the bright lights the season deserves.
With the cooperation between the Village of Lawrence and the Lawrence Community Club, the $12,951 cost was split between the two groups. The first 12 were put up for the 2019 Christmas season and another 17 were ordered in June of 2020.
The Community Club used funds collected from dues, road rally meal donations and the tour of homes fees.
It seems the last time improvements were made to the Christmas Lights was in 1996.
The Village of Lawrence has an interesting history of cooperation between public and private groups and cooperation between different governmental units.
The history goes back a long way and includes many different aspects. We will not get into all of it here.
A person has to go back to the late 1950s when the first Christmas lights were put up by the village. Through the work of Mr. Robert Friend, who found a set of "used" lights from an Omaha source, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce purchased the lights with the Village of Lawrence paying for half of the cost. The village then took care of the lights and puts them up and takes them down every year.
Over the years, the light settings deteriorate and require more and more upkeep.
Step in . . . the Lawrence Community Club . . .
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