By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
    Sleigh bells rang as Santa Claus arrived at Kennebunk’s Rotary Park Nov. 25 for the Christmas in Kennebunk celebration. More than 200 adults and children braved the frigid weather for the 24th annual lighting of The Becker Memorial Tree on Water Street.
    The evening kicked off with caroling by the Kennebunk High School Chamber Singers. The group featured “Silent Night, Holy Night,” “Carol of the Bells” and “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing” while children waited anxiously for Santa to arrive.
    A small table provided hot apple cider, hot chocolate and donuts to Santa enthusiasts and music was provided by Kennebunk’s own WBOB disc jockey.
    Santa arrived at the lighting by horse and sleigh, charging down Main Street from the Kennebunk Police Station and stopped traffic for more than 10 minutes.
    Once Santa’s sleigh could be heard, Water Street filled with starry-eyed children looking for a glance at Santa.
    Caroline Rizzl, 8-years-old of Kennebunk, said the one present she is excited for is a Nintendo DS and couldn’t wait to ask Santa for one.
    The Becker Memorial Tree received a new holiday lighting job, after members from Kennebunk Light and Power helped decorated it with light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. Light Emitting Diodes are solid-state devices that do not require heating of a filament to create the light, according to the LED Web site. Instead, electricity is passed through a chemical compound that generates the light. The lights are also approved in the overall effort to reduce Kennebunk’s carbon footprint.    
    Sharon Staz, general manager for Kennebunk Power and Light, said the company has been pushing energy efficiency in the town for a number of years.
    “We sell LED lights here,” Staz said. “It only seemed suitable that when we were looking for the holiday lights, we would look for efficient ones.”
    Staz said she found a discounted price for the lights through a firm in New York and immediately went to the Downtown Committee Chairman Linda Johnson. Staz asked the committee to help with the funding of the bulbs if she would also come up with some of the money.
    Staz started the Buck-a-Bulb fundraiser in September to get people interested in LED lighting and to collect more money for lighting the Main Street Trees.
    “We explained that if people used the same number of strands of lights last year, it would use 2,218 kilowatt hours at a cost of $229,” Staz said. “Using the LED lights would use only 33.6 kilowatt hours and cost less than $5.”
    To date, only four of the Main Street trees are equipped with LED lights, which Staz said was a direct result of individual donations from people in the community. The tree that sits in front of the Kennebunk Free Library was lit through Teri Collard and Paul Coughlin’s donation, the tree in front on Ocean National Bank was lit through Nancy and George Galloway’s donation, the tree in front of Kennebunk Savings Bank was lit through Linda Johnson’s donation and the tree in front of the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells water district was lit through Dan Bowen’s contribution.
    Staz said her fundraising efforts didn’t stop there. She approached the Kennebunk Rotary Club and asked them to contribute money for lights for the tree. Staz said she was surprised when she asked for a $250 donation from the club and received it.
    The lights are guaranteed to last forever, but Staz said the company will have to watch the lights through the winter since harsh winds can hurt the lights and strings.  
    “Our ultimate hope is that we will eventually continue to string LED lights on all the trees in downtown Kennebunk,” Staz said. “I think people like them when they see them because they are very bright and white.”
    Staz said that hope may become a reality when the company gets the calculations of savings for the town.
    After Santa arrived he joined the crowd in the tree lighting countdown, which ended in only half the LED lights brightening the tree. Staz said there was a faulty connection on the male adapter of the string. The company already called to have the replacement part shipped, Staz said, which should brighten up the tree by the end of the week.
    Pauline Clayton, of Kennebunk, said she was most excited just to see Santa. She said the one present she really wants this year is a Bratz doll.
    Kim Gamache, of Kennebunk, held her 5-year-old son, Thomas Oliver, while they waited for Santa to greet them. Oliver said he wanted good, fun toys for Christmas.
    Many downtown merchants offered extended hours until 5 p.m. in addition to the Santa sighting, including Chadwick’s, Fine Things and Hearth and Soul.