Seasonal fun endangered in strapped cities

CLEVELAND – Holiday cheer was scarce in the northeast Ohio city of Elyria a few weeks ago when it looked like budget woes would break a Christmas tradition.

Every year for two decades, the city paid for hot chocolate, Christmas lights and Santa Claus at a 1925 mansion that drew 12,000 visitors each holiday season. A $1 million shortfall earlier this month forced the mayor to cancel Christmas at the mansion and nix plans for other holiday displays.

But two local charities donated $35,000 to keep on the lights, an example of how cash-strapped cities across the country are scrounging to pay for holiday decor.

In Farmington, Ark., residents sell ornaments to raise money for the city’s Christmas tree display. In Arlington, Texas, a councilwoman led an effort this year to raise nearly $25,000 within the community to save the city’s parade and tree-lighting ceremony.

Pittsburgh – for almost a decade – has paid for its popular downtown “Light Up Night” with the help of business donations, keeping the tradition going even last year when the city was so broke its mayor asked the state to bail it out.

In Cleveland, where a $60 million-plus deficit led to layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters, donations by some 40 businesses were crucial to its annual display, said Gary McManus, a spokesman for the nonprofit Downtown Cleveland Partnership.

Akron squeezed its Christmas parade and decorations into its tight budget, said spokesman Mark Williamson. But donations from area businesses and volunteers helped expand the celebration without adding costs.

Mayor Don Plusquellic couldn’t imagine the holidays without a city celebration, Williamson said.

“Are we in a pinch? Sure. Every city is now,” Williamson said. “Every city has to figure out how to – whether its plowing snow or having a holiday parade – how to balance it.”