There is also the little problem of BELCO and the cost of electricity...

I'm sorry but I put up less lights around the house this year, haven't put the tree lights on at all. I seriously need to cut down the amount of power consumption to save some money on the BELCO bill.

I suppose that this is the trend as those middle income people (with a few shingles of disposable income) are being pushed to lower income bracket and cannot afford to waste their money on extra lights.. Call me bah humbug but thats the reality of it.

Do you think BELCO is doing us a favour by having that Light contest? Hell, BELCO laughs all the way to the bank with the extra money generated by all the xmas trees and outdoor lights.

Something else....The Coiporation of Hamilton needs to get rid of the 60watt bulbs and most to LED. Brighter, CHEAPER and not a forkin ugly.. A COMPLETE replacement of the street bulbs with LED will have a ROI in one year...