Monongahela community members come together to save beloved Christmas lights
Monongahela Historical Society President Laura Magone led the effort to raise money and recruit volunteers to fix the snowflakes.
The Christmas snowflakes that line Main Street in Monongahela are shining brighter this year, not because they are new, but because the entire city worked together to save them.
The lighted decorations that have long marked the start of the season return this year as a community revival of a hometown tradition.
At 6:10 p.m. today, the newly refurbished snowflakes will debut as the public is invited to gather for the lighting of the Angelo’s II Christmas tree designed by Pete Dzimiera. The event is part of Merry and Bright night, which begins in Chess Park at 5:30 p.m.
The journey to repair the snowflakes was a labor of love as they were showing their age and replacing them was out of reach financially.
That is when Laura Magone, president of the Monongahela Historical Society, started searching for a fix.
She expected the fundraising effort to take time. She even prepared fliers, planning for a slow climb toward the goal, but once she created a Facebook post about the project, everything changed.
“I anticipated this taking several weeks to do,” she said. “I created a post the next morning and we had the money in two hours and we had a waiting list. We were just blown away and we could not keep up.”
The goal was simple: Save the town’s 35-year-old Christmas snowflakes before they aged out for good.
Buying new ones was nearly impossible.
At $1,500 each, replacing all 34 lights would have drained any budget, and as Magone learned, the old frames were built to last.
“The town’s lights were getting old. Buying new ones was not an option because they are just too expensive,” she said.
So she asked local experts Pete Dzimiera and Janie Ward Long for help.
“Both said it was going to be far more economical and that we would have better quality lights to refurbish the ones we had,” she said.
As a former Pool City Christmas buyer and commercial merchandise manager, Long had prepared holiday displays for seven stores and handled large scale décor projects in Ligonier, McKeesport and beyond. She knew exactly what Monongahela’s snowflakes needed.
“I am very excited that they went with my recommendation a while ago to refurbish everything,” Long said. “That was my contribution, simply telling them it could be done and refurbishing them was the way to go.”
When Magone asked what new snowflakes would cost, Long broke down the numbers. Then she and Dzimiera inspected one of the old frames.
“We had a meeting and Pete and I looked at a snowflake that came into us and said it could be redone,” Long said. “He and I agreed and looked at Laura, and she said OK and that is how it started.”
From there, Dzimiera took the lead.
The longtime decorator, known for his elaborate holiday displays at Angelo’s II, purchased all the wire, sockets and bulbs himself, then rewired each light by hand.
“It took Pete nearly a day to work on just one light, and we have 34,” Magone said. “Pete purchased all of the wiring and lightbulbs which was a substantial investment and a great act of generosity. He did this all for love of his hometown.”
In total, he redid all 34 snowflakes, installing 4,760 lights and 2,500 feet of wire, held together with hundreds of zip ties.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Powder Coating in Elrama stepped in with a price that made the restoration possible.
“It cost us $150 dollars to powder coat each one and Antonio gave us a far better price than anyone else,” Magone said.
All hands on deck
Owner Antonio Carosella said each snowflake needed heavy prep before it could be coated again.
“A lot of work goes into it,” Carosella said. “We take everything to a burn off oven to remove the old coatings, then sandblast everything down to bare metal and get rid of the rust spots. We clean them with a phosphate cleaner, apply a primer, pull them back out and top coat for the final cure.”
He said the shop handled the work in batches.
“It was probably a month and a half from start to finish,” he said. “We are right down the road here and are happy to be involved. It is a privilege to do something like that. There is a real sense of pride to drive by and see something you worked on. It brightens up the town.”
The Monongahela Street Department hauled each heavy frame back and forth through every stage.
“The Monongahela Street Department made countless trips,” Magone said. “We thank them for what they did.”
Long watched the work unfold and said what many already felt.
“It was a labor of love,” she said.
The new LEDs are not only more energy friendly, they add a fresh look.
“They are not just white,” Long said. “There
are beautiful blue LEDs
that will make our snow- flakes stand out on Main Street. That big white glow around that blue center is a lot more modern looking and I think people will really love them.”
If you ask anyone involved, it never could have happened without the big heart, and countless hours of labor from Dzimiera, who had been watching the lights age for years.
“Every year we have been watching the lights on the poles. They were aging and needed some work,” he said. “Laura was talking about po tentially replacing them and I knew it would be a big investment to buy new. I have done enough to know what is involved in refurbishing them.”
He said each frame is roughly five feet by five feet and heavy. The town helped move them, but the rewiring was all hand work.
“We stripped them of ev – erything,” he said. “The first one or two were a learning experience. Once I got it, it was a matter of time.”
On average, each piece took four to five hours to wire. The slowest part was securing the lights to the frame.
Dzimiera started in the last week of August and some- times completed two to five a week until the last one was completed in time for Merry and Bright Night.
Like so many, he is eager to see them lit.
“I am anxious to see what they look like. Once they are up, we will see how the blue shows,” he said.
For him, the project reached
back into his own childhood.
“I can remember the stars they used to hang,” he said. “I grew up in small town America and want to see small town America last.
When people donate their time to do something like this, that preserves what is here even though it would be easier to buy new, it helps keep that spirit alive.”
He added that the work might have been his hands, but the project belonged to the whole community.
“I know I was the one who wired them and made a donation, but it was a community effort for everyone involved, from the city to Laura to the powder coating. I think they are better than brand new and I am so appreciative for everyone who helped make it happen. It’s good when people can give back and I hope others find a way to make seasons like Christmas and Easter and Fourth of July memorable for these kids because I can say from experience it is something they carry with them.”
Holiday spirit, community pride
All 34 snowflakes were sponsored within hours.
Some were dedicated in memory of loved ones. Others honored long standing family ties.
“One man is getting one in memory of his son. One woman is putting one where her dad had a pharmacy,” Magone said.
For Kelly Linn, curator for the historical society, the response became an emotional reminder of what Monongahela protects and preserves.
“It was chaos in the best way,” she said. “To see a community open their wallets and hearts to preserve something that is more than a Christmas decoration, it is their memories of the town.”
The support came fast.
“It was boom, boom, boom,” Linn said. “Some
people gave $150 for a snow- flake but then added more for whatever we needed. It was humbling to see them pull together.” What moved her most was how deeply the snowflakes have become part of local memory.
“These snowflakes are engraved in people’s mem- ories,” she said. “Adults remember walking around town with their parents and grandparents seeing these lights. Now they will share that with their children and grandchildren.”
Linn said holiday symbols have always meant something here.
“Back in the day we had alu minum stars with lights and people still talk about those,” she said. “These snowflakes have been a memory for 35 years. For people to want to preserve them was heartwarming. Even with the new color scheme, the blue will be the perfect touch.”
Long said the upgraded bulbs will last for decades.
“We will see these lights shining every holiday season for another 25 years,” she said.
What started as an aging set of decorations is ending as a full community revival.
The lights are brighter now, with a new glow that fits the season but most of all, they shine with the unmistakable pride of a small town working together.
“We cannot wait for light up night,” Magone said. “We love our hometown.”
Mayor Greg Garry, council members, the Monongahela Street Department crew, Long, Chamber President Dr. Randy Rodriguez, Santa Claus, Carosella, Delmar Zenobi, who created the dedica- tion tags, and officers of the Monongahela Area Historical Society will help pull the switch during the Merry and Bright Night festivities.
