Camden Courier-Post – November 27, 1963
Camden’s Broadway will burst into a red, green and yellow explosion of lights at 5 p.m. Friday as it prepares to welcome Santa Claus.
The Chritmas [sic] lighting display, stretching over two miles and burning 61,000 watts of electricity, has been heralded by the Camden Business Improvement Association as the greatest ever assembled.
The master switch, at Broadway and Market st., will be pulled by Mayor Alfred R. Pierce in the presence of Jerry Aronberg, BIA president, and other city and BIA officials.
Elaborate Display
“Last year, the town was dark but this year we are making up for it with a vengeance,” Aronberg said. “Not only are we stringing farther in distance but we are deeper and richer in ornamentation than ever before.”
The lights will stretch from Penn st. on the north to Liberty st. on the south and run west on the main intersections streets off Broadway.
With a $2,500 assist from the city, the BIA purchased the lights from the L.C. Williams Co., of Houston for $13,000 and plans to add to them each year.
“In the past,” Aronberg said, “we rented the lights. Now we own them and after Christmas, with the permission of the city, will store them in Convention Hall.”
Praises Crews
Aronberg paid tribute to Mike Speno, chief of the city’s electrical bureau, who with crews of from 5 to 7 men, strung the lights on Sundays and holidays.
The ornaments are green, red and silver with a 27-inch bell in the center of each string and 17 inch bells on either side. The lights are red, green and yellow.
The estimated cost for each Camden store front is $2 a front foot. Mayor Pierce has appealed to all affected merchants to aid the BIA in defraying the total cost.
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