Do you hear what I hear?

Businesses join together to provide
holiday shopping tunes around the square

[DEC. 15, 2000]  Christmas carols were ringing through downtown Lincoln Thursday evening after installation of the new sound system on top of the Logan County Courthouse.  The project was a Main Street Lincoln and Logan County Board partnership, with a major donation from P&M Communications.  

Wendy Bell, Main Street Lincoln program manager, brought the idea to Dick Logan, Logan County Board chairman, after discussion at a Mornings on Main monthly meeting.  "Carols have played off the courthouse for years in Edgar County, where I grew up," said Bell.  "It was always one of my favorite parts of the holiday season."

 

Logan thought it was a great idea and suggested contacting Bob Metz from P&M Communications.  Metz contacted the Edgar County Courthouse for specifics on their system and then joined Logan and Bell on the courthouse roof about 10 days ago to discuss the possibilities.

Installation of the equipment on a snowy and slippery roof was done Thursday afternoon, and the strains of "Do you hear what I hear?" could be heard before 4 p.m.

P&M Communications generously gave almost $1,500 worth of equipment, while the county paid for the labor.  

 

The music is set on a timer and will play from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.  The player randomly selects songs from six different compact discs, so repetition will be kept to a minimum.

 

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The CD player is wired to four speakers, two on the southwest corner and two on the northeast corner of the roof.  The speakers are attached to brackets specially built by Don Bode.  Metz noted that Bode's work made the installation much easier.

Bell and Metz walked around the square to check the music level, stopping in shops to be certain it wasn't a distraction.  Metz explained, "Not all compact discs are recorded at the same level, so some songs are going to be louder than others no matter what you do." 

 

General reaction from shoppers on the street was very positive; all agreed that the music added to the festivity of the season.

Bell remarked, "Downtown Lincoln is our shopping mall, and every mall I know is climate-controlled and has music.  We may not be able to control the climate, but we can have our music!"

[Main Street Lincoln news release]