Contest casts North Side in a festive light

By Sean Barron

YOUNGSTOWN — Mary Ann O’Neal has called the North Side home for as long as she can remember. And the sense of community it’s given her is something she wanted to share.

So she came up with a bright idea: Create an opportunity for people in the region to get an up-close look at many residents’ holiday lights and decorations.

That idea came to fruition Wednesday in the first Neighborhood Festival of Lights and Decoration Tour that took several dozen people by bus through much of Youngstown’s 3rd Ward. The two-hour ride began and ended at Heart Reach Ministries, 211 Redondo Ave.

“I’ve lived on the North Side 60 years, and it seemed as if it needed a little shot in the arm,” explained O’Neal, a social worker for Catholic Charities Regional Agency. “We want to make our town better.”

At least 40 people of all ages filled the Western Reserve Transit Authority bus that passed or stopped at 25 locations, most on the North Side.

The festive tour allowed participants to view and appreciate numerous combinations of outdoor lights, nativity sets and other decorations. At one point, riders got to see the inside of a home.

The event was to showcase the homes and spirit of citizens in the community, noted Councilman Jamael Tito Brown, D-3rd, who conducted the tour. It also was a competition in which residents had asked that their homes be placed on the route.

Six prizes were given to homeowners based on criteria that included atmosphere, showmanship, visibility of a Christmas tree from the street, and the nativity scene, Brown explained. Extra points were awarded for best use of trees and color combinations, as well as what he called “the Griswold effect,” referring to the overabundance of outdoor lights shown in the popular Chevy Chase comedy “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

A sampling along the way included a three-story home on Saranac Avenue encased in white lights and six lighted wreaths in the windows; a residence near Alameda Avenue with a slowly-rotating Ferris wheel of snowmen; and Bradie Higgs’ Illinois Avenue home.

“It’s my way of saying ‘Merry Christmas’ to the whole area,” Higgs said, referring to the colorful array of lights on her house, garage and shed.

The effort also was a tribute to Higgs’ late husband, who loved to decorate, she said.

A short time later, the bus stopped in front of a 20-foot-tall tree decorated with colored lights in Youngstown’s Central Square.

Those on the trip were invited inside the Fairgreen Avenue home of Jeanne Smith, who discussed her collection of holiday village sets that nearly filled her living room.

Smith started her collection of ceramic and plastic pieces about 20 years ago and has amassed an estimated 75 houses, 50 trees and hundreds of human figures, she said. Also complementing her village scenes were a lighthouse, train sets, colored snowmen and churches.

“I don’t mind; I don’t mind at all,” Smith said about the large crowd admiring her collections.

Smith brought out the pieces around Thanksgiving and plans to keep them on view until after New Year’s Day, she added.

“We have to let people know that the quality of life has improved” in the city, Brown said, adding that he is thankful WRTA officials agreed to be a partner in the event.

Also pleased with the tour’s turnout and many North Side residents coming together was Brown’s wife, Lynette, who brought the couple’s 4-year-old twin daughters, Clarisa and Camille.

“We’re very proud the city got together and really participated,” she said.