It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in downtown Grass Valley, thanks to a team of local electricians who stepped in to make sure the holiday lights shine bright this year.

"This is a small town with a huge heart. And when push comes to shove, we take care of each other," said Robin Galvan-Davies, executive director of the Grass Valley Downtown Association.

The Grass Valley Downtown Association is in charge of the holiday rooftop lights around Main and Mill streets. But their usual electrical contractor moved out of state, and they quickly realized they couldn't afford the new invoice this year for lighting.

"True sticker shock," said Galvan-Davies, "I got with my team and said, 'OK, folks, we are going to need to find an alternative funding source, because we need to have those lights on. The corridor needs to be illuminated.'"

Estey Electric decided to step up to the plate and get other electrical companies involved, too.

"It was a we thing. We decided there's nothing we can't do as long as we do it together. We kind of got together as electricians and gave back to the town," said Shawn Estey, with Estey Electric.

About $7,000 worth of lights, labor and material were donated across six local companies to put up holiday lights in downtown.

"Everybody who participated was Gannon Electric, Guerrette Electric, Maselli Electric, Iron Cowboy Off-Grid Solutions, Estey Electric, with donations from Platt," said Estey. "We didn't want dollar signs to get in the way of making sure town was lit up."

"When there are questions asked, the answer is always yes, and that's a beautiful, beautiful thing for our community to experience together," said Steven Sullivan, manager at Platt Electric Supply.

The holiday magic came together one strand at a time.

"It brings tourism in, it's a great place for kids to hang out, when everything looks better, the town feels better," said Ben Maselli, owner of Maselli Electric.

"I probably enjoyed that day, with my tools on, than any other day in the year. It was just really cool," said Estey.

They estimate that about a thousand bulbs were put in.