ORANGE — One lamppost might be adorned with a red ribbon, another with a wreath and another glittering with Christmas bulbs, but in downtown Orange, they are all decorated in the holiday spirit.
For the second year, the Orange holiday lamppost contest has commenced. Those wandering the downtown area might notice the 20 decorated poles, each uniquely capturing the holiday spirit by local businesses.
The 20 businesses and organizations donated $25 to the local business collective Orange Merchants Group, and for that donation were able to decorate a pole.
Visitors and residents can choose which pole they like best, and vote in person at Trail Head Outfitters and General Store on South Main Street, or online at the town website, www.townoforange.org. Which businesses decorated which poles is being kept anonymous, and the business with the most votes for best pole will be revealed during Orange’s Starry Starry Night New Year’s Eve event.
“A lot of people have said they will come and walk for a half hour just to see,” said organizer Tom Smith. “It’s really pretty and nice to see in person.”
The holiday lamppost contest is orchestrated by residents Smith, Jeff Cole and Brenda Anderson, who are all members of the local business collective Orange Merchants Group, and were also instrumental in raising $7,000 for the town’s new holiday lights gracing the downtown Memorial Park.
A map of the poles is also visible online at the town website or Facebook page for Orange Merchants Group. The winner gets a trophy, donated by Orange’s Ames Trophy, but it’s really not about the prize.
“It’s not done for winning the contest,” Smith said. “It’s people wanting in and wanting to help decorate our town.”
According to Anderson, the one unifying aspect of the various poles is the white holiday lights on each. She said the decorations were done just to make the town “look nice,” but had the “bonus” of making people feel good and urging them to get out and walk around downtown Orange.
The poles line North, South, East and West Main streets, highlighting Orange’s downtown sights like Memorial Park and the Millers River.
The contest happened for the first time last year, in the midst of a tense environment in Orange, according to Smith — the town was struggling financially, with departments facing impending budget cuts, and there were problems at Fisher Hill Elementary School with student behavior and allegations of abuse against a former principal.
“At the time, Orange was going through a really tough time,” Smith said. “We knew we couldn’t go to the town to ask for money, but we wanted to do something to lift people’s spirits.”
It was all done to spread some holiday cheer without costing the town a penny, and it’s been such a success Smith says he plans to continue it annually.
“It makes people have hope,” Smith said. “People always say, ‘Orange is poor, Orange is this, Orange doesn’t have that.’
“Orange has the most community spirit of any place I’ve ever seen,” he added. “We pull together.”
Quabbin Harvest, the local food co-op located across from Town Hall, won last year’s contest.
According to Smith, this year’s competition and downtown decorations are especially sentimental to him. His sister, Kristin Harakles, passed away after a seven-year fight with cancer just before the decorations were first revealed.
“My sister was extremely into Christmas, the decorations, everything,” Smith said.
Smith said he had shown pictures to his sister of the decorations during the fall, anticipating the Christmas season, and she said, “Towns just don’t do this anymore.” Smith agrees.
“It’s kind of old fashioned,” he said. “But we’re trying to bring it back.”
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.