Getting ready for the holidays

Layoffs, furloughs and budget woes are not enough to stop the holiday spirit from arriving in Sonoma County cities and towns as twinkling, colorful lights soon will be lit in squares and on city trees.

“The lights have been checked and bulbs have been replaced and we're ready to throw the switch,” said Lisa Grant, Santa Rosa city parks superintendent.

Five Sonoma County cities Tuesday indicated decorations provided this year will be about the same amount typically provided by the local governments.

But some cities are trying to pinch their power costs by using low-electricity, more affordable, LED lights.

“We've converted, if not all, most of our lighting to LED over the past several years,” said Rich Emig, public works superintendent in Sebastopol.

“It's kind of the right thing to do,” said Emig, noting the energy efficient lights are cheaper to operate as they light the downtown square and those on City Hall and the library.

He estimated the city spent about $1,000 in the past few years to make the lighting exchange, money he expected the city would eventually recoup through increased efficiency.

Rohnert Park this year switched from incandescent holiday bulbs to LEDs.

“I like them. They don't break like the glass ones. They are a lot more efficient,” said Mike Bracewell, utility services supervisor for the city.

Windsor also is in the process of changing its lights. Yountville in Napa County, which celebrates its Festival of Lights over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, went to LED lights last year.

Sonoma and Santa Rosa City Hall officials said they're hoping to have more energy efficient lighting for the 2010 holiday season.

“We want to make the changes,” said Santa Rosa's Grant, whose parks department inherited the holiday lighting program midway through the year. “We didn't have time this year.”

“We're researching, then we're going to do it all, the street lights and the Christmas lights,” said Colleen Pratt, Sonoma's public works administration clerk.

While Santa Rosa's holiday lights remain in place all year in Courthouse Square, crews on Monday switched out broken lights.

Sebastopol and Sonoma will put up annual holiday displays after Thanksgiving or soon after.

Windsor will try something different this year, dropping some traditional Town Green area tree lights in favor of new ones on the nearby town library and Huerta Gym.

But Donna Legge, Windsor community services director, said far more decorations this year will brighten the area, provided by a new program sponsored by the Town Green Village Association.

“It's a combination of them wanting to do this and we saw an opportunity to save money,” Legge said.

Rohnert Park crews got their lights up last week, earlier than normal, in a plan to have it done before the rainy season, said Bracewell.

Rohnert Park decorates a run of redwood trees in the center divider of the Rohnert Park Expressway at Commerce Boulevard.

With the economy lagging the holiday lights are a nice touch to help people get into the spirit, said Bracewell. “The community deserves the lights here.”