Lighting up downtown Menlo Park Lighting up downtown Menlo Park (December 17, 2003)

The downtown merchants and other festive-hearted souls said, "Let there be light," and the holiday twinklers returned to downtown Menlo Park last week.

After it looked as though the listless economy would threaten the special holiday light display along Santa Cruz Avenue this year, a fundraising campaign by the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce and the city raised about $7,500.

"It was an overwhelming percentage of the downtown merchants (who contributed). We all went door to door," said Rick Ciardella, the incoming chairman of the chamber board. "We even had one merchant put a little box outside for holiday lighting contributions."

The display includes lights in the trees and banner lights across the street, but the shooting stars will not be included this year, Mr. Ciardella said.

Typically, the city and the chamber together pay about $12,000 for light rental and installations, but officials said budget crunches made that impossible this year.

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