Woodburn Independent Online

Hubbard residents want to bright Christmas lights along streets

• By: Rachel Cavanaugh  
• Published: 11/20/2009 3:34:40 PM
• Last Updated: 11/23/2009 3:44:46 PM

HUBBARD — Volunteers in Hubbard have launched a $2,500 effort to revamp the city’s Christmas light display.

The lights, which decorate the highway in town, have been sprayed with a white snow powder and the bulbs will be replaced with LEDs.

“It’s just to make them look nicer and to make the lights work better,” said Jan LaFollette, of the Hubbard Business and Economic Development (HBED) committee. “We’ve had some issues with the lights because those regular electric little bulbs, when the wind blows on them they break and so the LED lights should be sturdier and last longer. … They use appreciably less power also.”

LaFollette has been working in recent weeks to remove the old garlands that decorate the telephone poles and get them powder-coated white. Her group has also purchased about a thousand feet of wiring.

The project, funded by HBED and local businesses, is slated to be complete with lights turned on by Dec. 1. A group from the North Marion Fellowship has been helping with volunteer time.

“It’s a community-building,” said LaFollette. “It’s like the flowers baskets — (the goal is) to create pride in the community and increase livability, make it a more pleasant place to live.”

She said the new lights will look more contemporary.

LaFollette also pointed to the city’s Christmas tree lighting, which will take place separately on Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. at Hubbard’s Centennial Park (Highway 99E and A street).

She noted the trees at the park were donated by the Bizon family in memory of their father, a long-time Hubbard postmaster. The event will include Christmas caroling and refreshments.

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