The Christmas Tree Lane Association
During the first half of the 20th century, unincorporated Altadena had been solicited for annexation by Pasadena City. On a 1956 ballot, annexation was voted down. The City of Pasadena then withdrew its support for lighting Christmas Tree Lane. Altadenans were faced with having to attend to the Lane themselves. In 1957, they formed the Christmas Tree Lane Association with Lawrence Lamb as their first president. In coordination with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 11 they set about electrifying and lighting Christmas Tree Lane from their own fund raising.
The organization of directing traffic employed the assistance of local Boy Scout Troops, who blocked the side streets, directing cars up Lake Avenue to Las Flores Street, well above the head of the Lane, and down Santa Rosa through the trees. This practice was ended in the late 1960s with the increased auto traffic and new residents who were less than patient with the detouring.
The Association was predominantly a men's organization, given the type of work it took to physically light the Lane. In 1960 a Women's Auxiliary was formed, headed by Mrs. Lenore Denny, to develop fund raising projects during the year, such as summer picnics, rummage sales and donation cans placed on the sales counters of local businesses. Nowadays, fund-raising and manual labor are performed by men and women alike. The lane work can be time consuming for Community Members, especially the members of the Board of the Christmas Tree Lane Association. By the late 1980s the Board had not replanted several missing trees, and struggled to get the lights up every year. There were no reserve funds, and in fact the Association was in deficit. In 1994 a new Board of younger volunteers was elected. This board, headed by Max and Jan Jouanicot, raised funds to erase the deficit, plant new trees to fill the gaps, and build new lines for the trees. That work is continuing under the present Board President Tony Ward. The present Board is slowly replacing the old style light bulbs that used 11 watts each with new LED bulbs that use 1 watt each and will have a longer life.
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