Teens come up with bright idea

The group may look to expand the decorating idea next Christmas season.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
McDONALD -- Many young people measure Christmas cheer by what's under the living room tree, but a group of teens here saw the trees in front of neighborhood homes as a means to spread holiday cheer to the masses.
A drive through the Dakota Street neighborhood would likely be an uplifting experience for most people. Most houses have some form of holiday decorations, but what is most noticeable are the dozens of trees in the devil strip -- covered in Christmas lights.
Each tree trunk is wrapped in green lighting while the tree tops are decorated with white lights. After dark the street is reminiscent of a long, cheerfully lit path lined with images of the holiday season.
That holiday image is just what the four teens who came up with the idea had in mind. Neighborhood teens Bill Rees, 17, Katie Joseph, 13, R.J. Rees, 17, and Mike Robison, 14, said they came up with the lighting concept a few years ago in hopes of giving the neighborhood a more cheerful look.
Getting started
The teens started by decorating only a few trees in front of the Rees home. By the next holiday season, they were looking to get more neighborhood residents involved.
"We figured it would catch on but it didn't, so we put together a letter, and within a week more people started doing it," said R.J.
The letters, according to the teens, simply explained to neighbors that they wanted to light up the neighborhood with decorated roadside trees. They asked the neighbors to use green and white in decorating the trees. The teens sent about 35 letters, and all but a few responded by adding the lights to trees in front of their homes.
"We just thought it would be really cool to do something like this. No other street does anything like this," Mike said.
Mike said the group's excitement was shared by others in the neighborhood once they expressed the tree decorating idea. Most put the lights out immediately, he said.
R.J. said the group may try to expand the decorating concept next Christmas season. He said it would be "cool" for all of McDonald to pick up the idea and decorate roadside trees across the community in similar fashion.
jgoodwin@vindy.com