Over the years, additions were made and some were taken away. The wiring between poles was made permanent. A large pine tree to the left of the Town Hall was decorated each year with colored bulbs. This tree was removed when the front courtyard area of the Town Hall was renovated in the late 80s/ Early 90s.
The gazebo in the Dave Grieve Park was decorated, much of the work done by Carolyn Bedard who also assisted Mr Piwcio and others with the lights on the poles.
The trees in the park were also lit with white lights, but this was stopped when the Monson Teen Center opened, and youths looking for mischief gathered downtown; many of which didn't even use the Teen Center, but rather used it as a reason to loiter downtown.
After much frustration with bulbs being removed or broken and wires destroyed, the lighting of the trees was stopped.
In 2004, Andrew Piwcio suffered a heart attack and passed away suddenly. Carolyn Bedard decided that she would end her many years with putting up the lights and setting up refreshments at the Fire Dept, and asked Jeremy Bedson to take over the job. Jeremy, along with his wife Christine and good friend Randy Pelletier began, and still do, coodinate the decorating and put up the majority of the lights downtown. A handful of other volunteers also assist with the removal of the lights from the basement of Memorial Town Hall and place them on the street for installation, drive the firetrucks with Santa, and set up refreshments at the Fire Station.
We begin putting up lights at the gazebo usually on Veteran's Day, and continue with putting lights on the tree at the Monument at Main St & High St, the tree and the wreath on the front of Memorial Hall in the weeks that follow. The weekend after Veteran's Day, the pole lights go up.
Currently, painting and other maintenance of the lanterns is being performed in hopes to utilize some of these fixtures as long as possible.