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IBEW, NECA Power Indianapolis Tradition November 2004 IBEW Journal   The Circle of Lights attracts thousands each year.

Indianapolis Local 481 and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) contractors are teaming up to give Indianapolis residents a bright, shining holiday gift: the Circle of Lights, a brilliant holiday spectacle made of nearly 5,000 lights.

Thousands of people gather each year in the heart of downtown Indianapolis for the traditional lighting ceremony on November 26, the day after Thanksgiving. Each year since 1962, Local 481 electricians have volunteered for the job of stringing lights up and down the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

On the day of the event, approximately 200 members converge on the 284-foot obelisk, where they carefully drop 52 garland strands with 4,784 colored lights out of windows in the observation tower. "People like to bring their kids down; its a real community event," said Local 481 Business Manager Tom ODonnell. "About the second week of January, we do the same thing in reverse."

The job is compliments of the Quality Connection, a labor-management partnership between Local 481 and its 2,000 electricians and the 80 contractors in the central Indiana chapter of NECA. This year the Quality Connection is a title sponsor of the event.