Thank you from Rotary Club of Westborough for support for downtown holiday lights

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Thank you from Rotary Club of Westborough for support for downtown holiday lightsTo the Editor:

The Rotary Club of Westborough is grateful for the recent showing of interest in our time-honored tradition of lighting downtown Westborough for the holidays. When started over two decades ago, Rotarians could be seen using long poles to string lights upon the dozens of trees in the downtown area. In recent years, due to the aging of the trees (as well as Rotarians), we have been fortunate to have the assistance of the Department of Public Works. We must also recognize the assistance over the years from Brett Borglund, whose electrical expertise and hands-on work has been invaluable. 

Our intention has always been to bring joy to the community of Westborough. As we prepared for this year, on top of the disappointment of having to cancel Santa’s visit and the lighting ceremony due to COVID-19 concerns, we were met with another challenge.  The DPW informed us that their bucket-truck could no longer safely reach the tall, large tree canopy in a manner that would provide attractive lighting.  Therefore, we were forced to find an alternative design for the lighting, fully aware we’d need to make adjustments along the way.  As planned, we’ve been having ongoing discussions with town officials and others in order to make the adjustments we believe are practical this year as well as those for the future. In the midst of this effort, a social-media survey of public-opinion has generated a public commentary which has turned an already difficult situation into more of a controversy.

The Rotary Club of Westborough seeks to turn this controversy into a source of goodness. We invite all those who want to see more vibrant lights on the rotary to donate to the Rotary Club of Westborough by mailing a check to PO Box 903, Westborough, MA 01581. Those who are additionally inspired to take action rather than arm-chair quarterbacking are invited to explore joining the Rotary Club at www.westboroughrotary.org.  Thank you for the opportunity to explain our situation and for your continued support of our efforts to serve our great community.

 

The Rotary Club of Westborough 

Kathy Wilfert, President

Dave Kaiser, President-Elect

Sandy Kearney, Vice-President

Elliott Rittenberg, Immediate Past-President

Jim O’Connor, Holiday Lights Chair

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