(21 Mar 2020) People may have marveled and sang about the novelty of Christmas in July, but a town in New Hampshire is lighting its festive lights for real in the spring as the world grapples with the unsettling reality of the escalating coronavirus pandemic.
As the virus wreaks havoc on lives and livelihoods across the world, holiday lights are going back up to provide a visual rallying point and a source of pride, cheer and brightness for Farmington residents and visitors alike.
"Instead of Christmas in July, we have Christmas and March here in Farmington to help people get through the day-to-day life that people are experiencing right now and bring a smile to people's faces," says Farmington Town Administrator Arthur Capello.
The small New Hampshire town, with its 27 strands of lights strung on utility posts across the main street, is not the only community to seek to invoke the magic of Christmas to lift the spirits of people buffeted by worrying developments in the pandemic.
Wrapped around a tree trunk in Colorado, fashioned into a heart in Alabama and hung high over Main Street in a small New Hampshire town, festive decorations are especially easy to enjoy from a safe social distance.
Capello says Farmington residents are particularly enthusiastic over their Christmas lights tradition that they've observed for about a century.
"It's a very passionate thing within Farmington to the point where, at one point, Eversource told us we couldn't attach to their poles anymore. The taxpayers actually raised money to put out our own poles so that we could keep our tradition alive," Capello said.
The movement has gained steam on social media, with people sharing photos with the hashtag #lightsforlife.
Many of posts on Twitter and other social media platforms suggesting such displays were inspired by a Colorado man who tweeted on Monday that his mom thought people should put Christmas lights in their windows "to remind each other there is still life and light" while they stay home to avoid the virus.
That mother, Rosemary Peterson, said Thursday she made the offhand suggestion after making the wrenching decision to indefinitely postpone funeral services for her sister, Marlene, who died on March 13.
Although the illness is mild in most people, the elderly are particularly susceptible to serious symptoms.
Worldwide, the number of infections exceeded 244,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
More than 86,000 people have recovered, mostly in China.
In Farmington, Capello says the benefits of bringing one good thing to his struggling and unsettled community is immeasurable.
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