EASTHAMPTON — For the past 40 or so years during the holiday season, the city has sparkled with icy-white lights lining the gazebo, bright colors circling trees and, of course, the dazzling star atop Mount Tom.

So when Patrick Brough heard that the city might not have the money to put on its yearly December holiday lights display, he took matters into his own hands.

“During the dark days of winter, to have the lights up no matter how you celebrate the holidays, it was a good spirit-lifting boost for people,” said Brough, a 26-year resident of Easthampton.

In the past, fundraising for the lights has been taken care of by the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce, businesses on Cottage Street, and other organizations at various points in time.

Though the city has never technically paid for the lights, organizations have transferred funds to the city which then put them toward the decorations. But last November, in 2022, Brough found out that the city had run out of money that had been raised over the years and wasn’t able to pay for the lights.

“I decided that we couldn’t just not have the lights up,” said Brough, who had previously been involved in fundraising while on the board of the Chamber. “I love this community, and I felt like it just was something that needed to continue to happen.”

After last year’s scramble to raise money, about half the lights that the city would have normally had on display were up.

This year, Brough said he “just assumed the role,” beginning in August when he started a GoFundMe page to raise the $16,100 needed to design, purchase and install the lights with Renew Holiday Lights, a landscape lighting designer based in Hatfield.

“I started knocking on doors, talking to people, business owners, talking to as many people as I could through social media to raise the money,” he said.

In the end, Brough’s fundraising efforts brought in around $17,000 from over 175 donors, enough to put on the full holiday display. Donations ranged from $5 and $10 individual donations to larger donations from organizations including Easthampton Savings Bank, Nini’s Restaurant, Helping Hand Society, and many others.

“For me, 175 people making the time to make some type of donation to this effort says to me that it was important and that people want to continue to see it happen,” Brough said.

Extra funds from this year’s efforts will carry over to next year, and Brough said that he plans on trying to raise more funds over the summer months.

“I’ll continue to do this as long as people want to see the lights go up,” Brough said.

Maddie Fabian can be reached at mfabian@gazettenet.com.