Each year, Erie native Jon DeMarco gets excited when the "Tinsel Team" from FirstEnergy and Penelec FirstEnergy Pennsylvania, which does business in northwestern Pennsylvania as Penelec, "Tinsel Team" arrives at Presque Isle State Park in late fall. The team is there to illuminate the park with energy-efficient LED lights for the popular Presque Isle Lights event that runs Dec. 6-29.

The annual drive-thru light display relies on many community volunteers who come together to hang lights and put up decorations throughout the park, which stretches into Lake Erie.

DeMarco, head of the nonprofit Presque Isle Partnership that spearheads the effort, is proud of all his volunteer "elves" who make it happen, including the Tinsel Team, which is made up of more than two dozen employee volunteers from FirstEnergy and Penelec.

"Our FirstEnergy and Penelec volunteers have the unique skill set and equipment to help us hang our lights each year," DeMarco said. "They've been here since the beginning and have the institutional knowledge necessary to get the job done."

In 2023, Penelec contributed nearly 200 hours of labor, including:

• Engineering design work for necessary infrastructure to power the lights

• Hanging and taking down lights on park structures and trees

• Installing illuminated snowflakes on 24 utility poles

This year, an ill-timed overnight windstorm prevented line workers and bucket trucks from joining the fray as planned so they could restore power to Penelec customers. That prompted Kyle Brocious, a Penelec readiness coordinator who had not initially signed up to volunteer, to step up as a substitute elf.

"With our crews tied up with the storm, I found some time on my calendar to fill in and help out the community," he said, while untangling a string of lights to hang in the park.

Presque Isle Lights originally started with about 30,000 energy-sipping LED lights. Glowing versions of deer, frogs, owls and other wildlife native to the wooded peninsula are crowd pleasers – and sponsors and donations ensure there is always something different for visitors to see. New for 2024 is a waterskiing Santa and eight other displays.

"Whatever is in storage and still working, we'll put out," DeMarco said. "And we're always adding displays. Our goal is to grow it incrementally year after year."

Conceived in 2020 as a Covid-friendly activity families could enjoy from the isolated safety of their vehicles, the self-guided Presque Isle Lights is an established holiday tradition. More than 1,000 cars drive the park loop on a busy night.

"I love the community aspect of this," said Diane Palmer, a Penelec claims supervisor. "It gives people the opportunity to come out and enjoy the peninsula in the winter. We always bring our grandkids, and I tell them, 'Hey, I had a part in putting this together.'"

Admission and programs are free, and donations to the Presque Isle Partnership are gratefully accepted.

For mor information and the Presque Isle Lights operating schedule, please visit