By LISA HLAVINKA

Staff Writer

BRUNSWICK — A donation will light up the city.

Medical Mutual of Ohio has offered to donate $10,000 for holiday decorations after Brunswick announced it was canceling its holiday lights because of budget constraints, City Manager Bob Zienkowski said.

“The display wouldn’t be up if it weren’t for this donation,” Zienkowski said.

There will not be enough time to install all the displays, he said. Usually the city’s holiday displays are up by this time of the year.

“With this donation, we can light the intersection of Center Road … and Pearl Road with the ground decorations as in the past, and possibly City Hall,” Zienkowski said in a letter to residents.

“We plan to work within the $10,000 budget amount that was donated, and nothing more, unless additional donations are received,” Zienkowski said in the letter.

Usually the city puts up the displays at a cost of $20,000, including the recreation center’s Family Holiday Spectacular Party and Christmas parade.

The recreation center party also was scaled back this year to save money, but Home Depot will donate decorations to help the city with costs. The party is at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 7, and the parade follows at 5:30.

City hall was inundated with e-mails and phone calls from residents about the holiday displays being canceled, Zienkowski said.

“I got called ‘Scrooge’, the ‘Grinch’ and everything in between, but I take responsibility for the decision,” he said.

Some residents, and people in other cities and states, thought the city made the right move to save money on the displays, he said.

“I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails that said it was the right decision to make,” Zienkowski said.

Displays were taken out of storage Wednesday, and city workers will put up the displays next week, he said.

Hlavinka may be reached at 330-721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.