It often happens in a flash. One night Mount Sugarloaf’s observation tower is dark. And then the next, it becomes a beacon breaking up the dark winter night.

Now, after nearly 75 years of holiday lights shining for south Franklin County residents and all those who travel through, the group of residents behind them are asking for small donations to cover the costs to replace the lights and the lines that support them, or at the very least, a written note sharing why the lights have been so meaningful to those who have had their nights brightened.

Those who put the lights up, though, want to remain anonymous as their focus is on continuing this community staple without bringing any glory to themselves. For the story, they chose to nominate Robert Schmitt, the town’s former longtime and beloved veterinarian, to speak on behalf of the group’s efforts.

“They just magically appear,” Schmitt joked in an interview at his South Deerfield home. “It’s something I’ve always done with other people … I moved here in ‘73 and have been doing it since then.”

It’s become a bit of local “folklore” at this point, but sometime after World War II some residents —  including a few veterans — began to socialize on Mount Sugarloaf and then placed a lit tree next to the Old Mountain House, which burned down in 1966. From there, the present-day observation tower was built and it soon became a home for the lights, which were maintained by the South Deerfield Rotary Club until it became inactive.

When the Rotary Club shut down, the lights never took a break as former members took up the mantle and journey up the mountain each year, typically sometime after Thanksgiving, to hang the lights up.

While the lights serve as a beacon for Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately residents each year, they took on a bit more meaning from the 1950s to the early 1970s when the U.S. Air Force would fly fully armed planes from the Westover Reserve Base in Chicopee up to the Artic Circle during the Cold War to serve as a deterrent. In the dark winter months, the Sugarloaf lights served as a sign the pilots were almost home when returning in the early morning hours.

Their presence was so appreciated that the commander of the 99th Bombardment Wing sent a letter to the Rotary Club to thank them for putting up the lights because his “aircrews would look for the lighted tree on Mount Sugarloaf as they returned home,” even with all the navigational instruments present in their aircraft.

In more recent times – and one of the few times a member of the group spoke publicly – the lights were flipped back on in spring 2020 during the onset of the pandemic, when resident Paul Olszewski and other members of the lighting crew thought the lights could brighten a dark time in the world.

Today, the lights serve as an introduction to the holiday season and all the family gatherings this time of the year brings.

“They mean something different to everybody,” Schmitt said, adding that they’re “slowing down” as they get older. “It’s a lot of work to get the darn things up … It is a challenge.”

As the men putting the lights up get older and repair expenses continue to add up every year or so, Schmitt and his colleagues are looking to the community for small donations to fund bulb replacements and the lines they are mounted on, which take a beating in the wind, rain and snow up on the mountain. The equipment usually lasts a “year or two,” pending extreme weather, and they typically pay these costs out of pocket.

“It’s a community effort,” Schmitt said of putting the lights up and now they’re hoping people can reciprocate that and keep this wonderful tradition going.

If folks are unable to donate, they are encouraged to write to Schmitt and his crew about the memories they associate with the lights and how much they mean to them. Checks and letters can be sent to Robert Schmitt, 70 Sugarloaf St., South Deerfield, MA 01373 with “The Lights on Sugarloaf” in the memo line.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.