GREENWICH, Conn. — This year for the holidays, Greenwich Avenue went unplugged.

The lights that usually illuminate trees up and down the avenue, lending an elegant touch to holiday shopping, were not strung this year. The Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, which had organized and funded the annual tradition with private contributions, said it was not doing the annual lighting tradition. Chamber Executive Director Marcia O’Kane did not disclose the rationale for the lighting cancellation, but officials in Town Hall indicated a lack of funding was the reason.

The response from merchants and shoppers was one of disappointment, as if the Grinch rode down from his lair and stole an old town tradition, one that dates back 40 years.

“That’s a bummer,” said Dionne Walsh, of Greenwich, as she set out to do some shopping and errands on the avenue recently, “It’s a part of Greenwich, it’s a tradition.”

Business owner Lindsay Cain called the lit trees during the holidays one of the best features of the downtown district.

“The trees felt festive and beautiful. Locking up after a long, tiring day, there was something special there, looking down the avenue, those bright lights. It’s heartwarming. It feels special, as you descend down the hill, the trees along the way. It’s charming,” said Cain, owner of Femmegems. “So that’s disappointing.”

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Greenwich Pharmacy manager Gus Sempertegui said the holiday lighting did more than just brighten the street. “It puts people in a better mood, it brings out the good in people,” he said, hoping the holiday tradition could be restored in the future. “It doesn’t have to be huge, just the gesture counts,” he added.

O’Kane said a nonprofit had been set up to take up the tradition. The chamber has had difficulty reaching its funding goal for the program in some previous years, and there have been other holiday seasons in which the avenue has been dark, so to speak. In 2008, the roughly $60,000 to $80,000 to pay for the lighting and the labor came up short by about 25 percent, leading to fewer lit trees.

There are still signs of holiday cheer, however. The front of the Senior Center, at 299 Greenwich Ave., is being lit this season by the town, with help from a private donation. Baskets of pine branches are adorning street lamps, courtesy of volunteers with Greenwich Green and Clean, and individual stores are providing decorations on their businesses. But the cancellation of holiday lighting has been seen as more than just a seasonal letdown and could lead to discussion at Town Hall over town funding of the operation in future.

Selectman Drew Marzullo said the case for town funding needs to be made to ensure the lights go up in future.

“You want to encourage local businesses to contribute – we live in a philanthropic area. But if that doesn’t happen, the town should contribute,” he said, likening the outlay to the municipal money spent on July 4 fireworks.

Besides the sentimental factor – “the character, that small-town feel” – Marzullo said holiday attractions like lighting also made sense from a financial perspective. “I think it attracts business,” he said.

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First Selectman Peter Tesei was reluctant to “open the checkbook,” as he put it, to cover a shortfall for the lighting program that the chamber was facing. During recent discussions with town staff and chamber representatives, he had been told that the lighting was “extremely costly” and that the chamber was “evaluating the way it does things,” Tesei said.

He noted that the retail district “had the resources and the ability to do this” without public funding, as it had done for many years in the past.

Tesei said he was willing to collaborate and work with the chamber and other partners without a direct expenditure. “There’s debate whether it should be a town function. … It’s not an essential service, and resources are constrained,” he concluded.

Like others, the first selectman wants to see the lights back on. “I personally like the lights, it creates a festive environment,” he said.


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