For Longtime Tradition, a Happy Ending

There was a Dr. Seuss ending Saturday to the Grinch-like tale in which Altadena’s 80-year-old tradition of lighting 138 cedar trees along Christmas Tree Lane faced an uncertain future.

On Friday, officials from the county and Southern California Edison Co. granted the Christmas Tree Lane Assn. approval to hold the holiday spectacle after solving electrical and insurance problems.

Workers scrambled to install meters, cover exposed wires and reroute extension cords from gutters.

When county officials conducted inspections Monday, they discovered safety code violations, said Jennifer Plaisted, deputy for Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

But those problems were solved, at least for this year.

“Whenever those lights flip on, I always get tears in my eyes,” said Jan Jouanicot, the association’s president.

Because of the power crisis, 100 Altadena residents volunteered not to turn on any of their Christmas decorations to conserve power for Christmas Tree Lane. The lane, on Santa Rosa Avenue, is lighted from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and from 5 p.m. to midnight on Fridays, Saturdays, Christmas Eve and New Year’s.