Avenue to Las Flores Street, well above the head of the Lane, and down Santa Rosa through the trees. This practice was ended in the mid-1970s with the increased auto traffic and new residents who were less than patient with the detouring. The Association was predominantly a men's organization, given the type of work it took to physically light the Lane. In 1960 a Women's Auxiliary was formed, headed by Lenore Denny, to develop fund-raising projects during the year, such as summer picnics, rummage sales and donation cans placed on the sales counters of local businesses. Nowadays, fund-raising and manual labor are performed by men and women alike. By the late 1980s the board had not replanted several missing trees, and struggled to get the lights up every year. There were no reserve funds, and in fact the Association was in deficit. In 1994, younger board members were elected who raised funds to erase the deficit, plant new trees to fill the gaps, and build new lines for the trees. The Board is slowly replacing the old-style light bulbs that used 11 watts each with new LED bulbs that use 1 watt each and will have a longer life. Southern California Edison In 1964, Southern California Edison, which was already a benefactor of Christmas Tree Lane, mostly by providing free power, installed a permanent power grid along the Lane with throw-switch boxes at three intersections to handle the increased lighting through the now massive trees. Each year scores of volunteers would come out to string (and after the season unstring) the trees with electric lines full of dangling bulbs. The lines were fastened to ropes that led to pulleys located in the tops of the trees. The wiring was removed before spring to allow the trees new growth and to avoid being damaged during pruning. Edison continued to provide free power until utilities deregulation in 2000. Landmark status Over time age, root diseases and high winds began to take their toll on several of the trees. By 1990, 132 of the original 146 trees remained. That year, Christmas Tree Lane, with its remaining trees now over one hundred years old, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was nominated for California State Landmark status. The narrative impressed the state officials with a particular phenomenon: the Lane brought two relatively new products together in a single social activity,