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PITTSBURG —
The City of Pittsburg hangs Christmas lights on Broadway Street in the downtown district every year. And as the proverbial saying goes, what goes up must come down.
City employees from a number of different departments, as well as linemen from Westar Energy collaborated Wednesday afternoon to take down the Christmas trees and lights they hung back in November. The crews hang the trees downtown a day before they string the lights, but on Wednesday they took them all down at once.
“If we were just taking down the lights we’d be through here really fast,” Parks Superintendent Ken Robertson said.
The trees, which the city had specially made, were loaded onto trailer. The lights were coiled into large plastic bins. All of them were then transported to Atkinson Municipal Airport, where they’re stored in a warehouse until they’re ready for use next year.
Robertson, who handles stacking the trees because he wants to take special care not to break any of the bulbs, said he’s been helping hang the trees and lights for 30 years. He said the process has changed, all for the better, over the years.
“When I first started we only had one bucket truck,” Robertson said. “A lot of us were climbing up to hang everything on ladders, and a lot of the time there would be ice on the ladders.”
Now, Westar Energy donates the use of a couple line crews to help the city hang the lights, which saves the workers a lot of time.
“Adding Westar has helped us a lot,” Robertson said.
The lights and trees will stay in storage at the airport until later in the year, when city employee Joe Adams and volunteer Dennis Kay begin the process of unfolding the lights, replacing worn-out tinsel and every bulb that doesn’t work before the formal lighting in December.
The City of Pittsburg hangs Christmas lights on Broadway Street in the downtown district every year. And as the proverbial saying goes, what goes up must come down.
City employees from a number of different departments, as well as linemen from Westar Energy collaborated Wednesday afternoon to take down the Christmas trees and lights they hung back in November. The crews hang the trees downtown a day before they string the lights, but on Wednesday they took them all down at once.
“If we were just taking down the lights we’d be through here really fast,” Parks Superintendent Ken Robertson said.
The trees, which the city had specially made, were loaded onto trailer. The lights were coiled into large plastic bins. All of them were then transported to Atkinson Municipal Airport, where they’re stored in a warehouse until they’re ready for use next year.
Robertson, who handles stacking the trees because he wants to take special care not to break any of the bulbs, said he’s been helping hang the trees and lights for 30 years. He said the process has changed, all for the better, over the years.
“When I first started we only had one bucket truck,” Robertson said. “A lot of us were climbing up to hang everything on ladders, and a lot of the time there would be ice on the ladders.”
Now, Westar Energy donates the use of a couple line crews to help the city hang the lights, which saves the workers a lot of time.
“Adding Westar has helped us a lot,” Robertson said.
The lights and trees will stay in storage at the airport until later in the year, when city employee Joe Adams and volunteer Dennis Kay begin the process of unfolding the lights, replacing worn-out tinsel and every bulb that doesn’t work before the formal lighting in December.
