Global News told you earlier this week about the massive Montreal Christmas tree that has gone dark after nearly four decades of delighting the community, all because of pesky squirrels.
After the tree’s owner spoke out, a possible solution has emerged.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” said Robert Gallant, the owner of the tree on Clement Ave. in Dorval.
Gallant has decorated the tree with love and care every year since 1981. It was a perennial source of joy for the community until this year, when relentless squirrel vandals ended the streak.
Gallant had been struggling to keep the tree alight for a few years because of the squirrels, but the frustration got to him in 2020.
“It’s just the disappointment of getting it lit up, having it lit for a few days, and it going out section by section by section,” he explained on Monday.
Gallant asked for suggestions from anyone watching or reading the Global News report. Soon after, he got a call from John Belvedere, the mayor of the neighbouring suburb Pointe-Claire.
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“I said to my wife, ‘oh, we had that same problem. I can help the gentleman,'” Belvedere recounted.
Like Gallant, Belvedere and his family take the lights on their giant tree very seriously.
“This is something I was inspired to be by my daughter Calista many years ago and has become a tradition,” Belvedere explained.
“She was five years old, and he had her on the roof of the house setting up Christmas lights,” said Sandra Hudon, Belvedere’s wife. Now 21, Calista is a nurse at Shriners’ Hospital.
Back in 2016, Belvedere says his tree went dark too.
“I had 115 strings of lights put in the tree and the same day the squirrels started eating them,” said the mayor.
After some research, he managed to find lights that have proven to be squirrel proof up until now.
“I found a supplier with a different quality of lights, and they’ve been in the tree since 2016 with no issues,” said Belvedere.
That supplier is called Shortall. The Montreal company distributes all types of lights including the Christmas variety.
So what makes their lights squirrel-proof? The sales director has no idea.
“I’m just so glad to hear it because we’re here to help people, but it’s certainly something we never even thought about,” said Eli Weissman, Shortall’s director of sales and marketing.
The manufacturer of the lights, Standard Products,
is also a Montreal company. According to Shortall, Standard did pitch the lights as more durable than the average store-bought light.
“I will research the company,” said Gallant, who plans to do his due diligence before deciding what he’ll use to outfit his masterpiece for its 40th anniversary in 2021.
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