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| Snowflake Holiday Lights – The Story We've seen a lot of snowflakes so far this winter, falling from the skies, resting on the rooftops and lying on the ground. But the absence of our community's electric snowflake decorations hanging from the poles along Second Avenue had more of an impact than we at Hazelwood Initiative had expected. Many people called our office or stopped us on the street asking why they weren't there this year. After four holiday seasons they looked forward to this renewed tradition and they expressed their disappointment. Let me explain. In 1996, through Operation Weed and Seed funding, the Greater Hazelwood community received twelve (12) snowflake holiday lights. These snowflake lights were installed from Hazelwood Avenue down to Johnston Avenue for the 1996 Holiday Season. In 1997, another twelve (12) snowflake holiday lights were purchased directly through Operation Weed and Seed funding. Then we had twenty-four (24), and twenty-two (22) snowflake lights were installed from Hazelwood Avenue down to Renova Street for the Holiday Seasons 1997 through 1999. (Two were in safe keeping to be installed down to the Glenwood Bridge when permanent wiring would be installed.) In order for those snowflake lights to be installed, Operation Weed and Seed lent support each year to have the lights put up by Newcomer Electric Company, who through the permission of Duquesne Light, would splice into existing electrical service with temporary timers, and also to remove the lights after the season. As you can see Operation Weed and Seed covered the cost of each year, for the past four years, just for temporary installation of the lights. During the course of these past four years it was brought to the attention of Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. (HI), the owner organization of the snowflake lights, if permanent wiring was in place for the lights, the cost for installation, dismantling and storage with maintenance would drop considerably to $600.00/year. The only catch was that the permanent wiring must be installed to a tune of $23,000.00, in one lump sum, at one time. Since Operation Weed and Seed funding was more and more in demand, the snowflake light installation could not be funded so, at the end of 1999 the HI Board decided grants would be applied for and money solicited for permanent wiring. Our first major contributor in December of 1999 was Steve Gombas with a $1,000.00 donation. Grants received in 2000 added up to $13,000.00, with $8,000.00 from State Representative Dan Frankel and $5,000.00 from State Senator Jay Costa. With some additional monies raised from the Oktoberfest 5K races and other fundraising events, Hazelwood Initiative was still approximately $8,000.00 short for permanent wiring. What a dilemma we were facing. Should we expend $4,400.00 of the money earmarked for permanent wiring to have Holiday Lights in 2000? Or should we forgo the snowflake lights this year and definitely raise the additional monies for permanent wiring in 2001 to ensure future bright and festive Holiday Seasons along Second Avenue? As you know by now, our decision was the conservative one and we hope the Greater Hazelwood community agrees with our decision. So, although we have been actively pursuing fundraising for the holiday snowflake lights, Hazelwood Initiative is now kicking off our last leg of fundraising. In this issue we are introducing our "snowflake barometer" which shows where the fundraising is with respect to our goal. Future issues of the Hazelwood Homepage will include the "snowflake barometer" so that we can keep the community informed as to the fundraising progress. That?s not all! We are asking all residents and business owners in Greater Hazelwood to donate toward the cause and help the reading of the "snowflake barometer" rise and get your name listed in Hazelwood Homepage. Any contributions can be made to Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. and mailed to: Snowflake Lights c/o Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. The Carbarn 5344 Second Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15207 Remember all donations are tax deductible. Please consider helping to brighten our future Holiday Seasons. Lisa Kunst Vavro, Chair Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. |
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