TRENTON, N.J. ? Joe Pisapia fondly remembers the decade-old community tradition of kicking off the holiday season on the Friday after Thanksgiving with a round of festivities.

Some years thousands would gather in the northern New Jersey town of Clark to watch the lighting of a 40-foot evergreen tree and a menorah that stretched more than six feet wide, and the arrival of Santa Claus.

But this year, Pisapia put up a sign: “Tree and Menorah Lighting Ceremony Canceled This Year Due to Lack of Community Support.”

He and other residents in the town of 15,000 who organized the event weren’t able to raise the $8,000 needed to pay for electricity and other costs, in part because corporate donations were down.

“Everyplace I’ve gone in the last week or so it’s been the main topic of conversation throughout the town,” Pisapia said.

Clark is just one of a number of communities nationwide going without holiday decorations this year because municipalities can’t afford them and donations are down.

Many cities are experiencing their worst fiscal conditions since the recession of the early 1980s, said Chris Hoene, a research manager with the National League of Cities.

“You’ve got revenue pressures, you’ve got spending pressures and the result is cities are being forced to cut back to cover revenue expenditure shortfalls,” Hoene said. “The way they’re doing that is by cutting back services in areas that are not public safety related.”

Joe Pisapia poses next to a 40-foot evergreen tree in Clark, N.J. A decade-old tradition of kicking off the holiday season in Clark with an elaborate tree lighting ceremony will not take place this year due to a lack of contributions, Pisapia said. Organizers weren't able to raise the ,000 needed to pay for electricity and other costs.