Lights have begun to appear on houses in our area - I would say it is too early to say yet whether this year will have fewer lights than previous years or not. But perhaps with the downturn in the economy, people are trying to conserve as much as they can ... My lights are not yet up, but they will be eventually!

I haven't been through Nonantum - the Italian nieghborhood of Newton, but every year they completely decorate a park and have a 12-foot high Santa state and a sleigh kids can climb into. I am sure it will be heavily decorated, as always!