Community Corner

Poll: Are You a Fan of the Peace Candle?

Is Easton's most visibile holiday tradition something you love or hate?

Earlier this week, Easton Mayor Sal Panto announced a fundraising campaign to replace the city's Peace Candle, the giant holiday decoration placed over Centre Square's monument.

Soon after we , we got this comment:

FINALLY!!!!!!! It's still an ugly monstrosity, but at least the drippings will match the color of the candle.

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How much money will they accept to keep the new one from being built?

(The "drippings" remark refers to the top of the candle, which is designed to look like it's melting. For some reason, the drippings on the current version of the candle are blue, even though the candle itself is white.)

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I admit, I chuckled at the notion of someone paying the city not to put up the candle, even though I don't consider it a "monstrosity." 

Yeah, no one's going to mistake the candle for, say, the Hagia Sophia, but I like the way it brings people together . 

Still, I know that not everyone feels the same way. Thirty years ago, a group of 90 residents asked the city to discontinue the candle, calling it a "garish symbol of inner-city decadence." (That's according to the Peace Candle's pretty exhaustive Wikapedia entry.)

More recently -- in 2003 -- the Morning Call's Steve Esack wrote that he found the candle "lame," and interviewed a few residents who shared his feelings.

Nine years later, we want to know who still feels that way. Tell us in the comments, and take our poll.


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