FLORENCE — Walking through downtown Florence, one sees decorative wreaths and lighting along the street lamps, visible even during the daytime. Storefronts are adorned with intricate window displays of Yuletide scenes and winter wonderlands.
Residents and businesses of the incorporated village in Northampton have taken it upon themselves to ensure Florence is full of holiday cheer this season, assisted by volunteer efforts and a contest put out by Look Memorial Park.
Many of the lights that decorate Florence’s streets — 150,000 in all — were put together and strung by a small group of volunteers from the Florence Civic and Business Association.
Georgianna Brunton, owner of the Miss Florence Diner and the president of the Florence Civic and Business Association, said that the association had been putting up lights across the village for more than 40 years.
“We basically reach out to each business, [asking] if they want to have lights, what their colors are, do they want to purchase it themselves,” she said. “And we order the lights and get them all ready to go and then put them up.”
The civic association volunteers who help with the lights include Kurt Brazeau of MurDuff’s Jewelry, Mark Vaclavicek of Streetlight Financial, Brian O’Connor of Thornes Marketplace, Glenn Gilbert of Pioneer Precision Optics and Chris Powers of the Florence Civic and Business Association.
Brunton also said the light decorations this year have been changed to LED lighting, in order to save on higher-than-usual power costs expected for this winter.
“It’s just a little bit less taxing on your electric bill,” she said. “I feel like that’s what people are noticing more, because the new lights are brighter and a little bit more crisp.”
Also encouraging the Christmas spirit of downtown Florence is Look Memorial Park, which ran a contest beginning in November for businesses in the village displaying holiday-themed storefront displays. Ten businesses in total participated in the contest, according to Justin Pelis, the interim executive director of Look Park. The winner received $1,000, which the park received from an anonymous donor, and a tree on the park’s Santa’s Train display, which is returning this year for the first time since the pandemic.
“It’s trying to get the community more engaged and more involved, specifically businesses,” Pelis said, regarding the contest. “We’re trying to create a little bit of community and camaraderie within Florence.”
Residents could vote for their favorite display by scanning a QR code posted outside participating storefronts. The winning store was Groundings, a crystal shop located on Main Street with a window display featuring illuminated stars and moon over small model trees and pine cones. As required by the contest, the display also features a small model train.
“It was the first thing that really just felt right,” said Groundings owner Lauren Pacosa on her store’s design. She said the prize money she received would go into advertising to further promote her business.
Asked what the holiday season meant for her, Pacosa said, “I like giving back to the community, like giving to friends and family and the whole kind of coming together.”
Runners-up in the competition included Florence Barber Shop, which placed second with a display featuring a miniature town with fake snow, and Full Circle Bike, which placed third with a hand drawn depiction of the Christmas story “The Polar Express.”
Marilyn Rivera, the owner of the Florence Barber Shop, said that although she didn’t win the competition, she was happy her display was able to be enjoyed by children passing by the store.
“We’ve had so many people walk by and come in and tell us how great [the display is],” said Rivera. “We have a preschool where the day kids come by weekly, and they stay there for a good five minutes and the kids just look into the windows.”
Jason Graves, the owner of Full Circle Bike, said he was planning on creating the Polar Express design regardless of the contest, but was happy to participate and be able to fit in the train theme.
“Christmas means to me, snow and sledding and playing outside,” he said. And, he added, “riding a new bike in the snow. I mean, who doesn’t want a new bike under the tree?”
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
