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Sunny skies. High 78F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

A mostly clear sky. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.

Harrisville Hardware employee Liza J. Atkinson hands Richard V. Dowling, a Maple Street resident in Harrisville, his free four-pack of 60-watt LED light bulbs on Friday afternoon at the store. A pack for each residence on the school tax roll and all of the community’s older adults living in the 20 apartments of Harris Courts were paid for by two anonymous donors hoping to inspire other residents to “pay it forward” in some way. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

Harrisville Hardware employee Liza J. Atkinson hands Richard V. Dowling, a Maple Street resident in Harrisville, his free four-pack of 60-watt LED light bulbs on Friday afternoon at the store. A pack for each residence on the school tax roll and all of the community’s older adults living in the 20 apartments of Harris Courts were paid for by two anonymous donors hoping to inspire other residents to “pay it forward” in some way. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

Harris Courts residents Jim W. Hinter, Joyce A. Wood, Marie A. Lavancha, Alice J. Hooper and Beverly A. Carr accept four-packs of 60-watt LED light bulbs from Harrisville Hardware owner Robert J. Bernhard at the 20-apartment residential community in Harrisville on Friday. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

Harrisville Hardware owner Robert J. Bernhard and his staff member Joyce A. Wood began distributing the 1,600 four-packs of 60-watt LED light bulbs on Friday that were paid for by an anonymous donor. Mr. Bernhard gave the donor a reduced price for the bulbs and agreed to distribute them for the next month to support the initiative. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

Harrisville Hardware employee Liza J. Atkinson hands Richard V. Dowling, a Maple Street resident in Harrisville, his free four-pack of 60-watt LED light bulbs on Friday afternoon at the store. A pack for each residence on the school tax roll and all of the community’s older adults living in the 20 apartments of Harris Courts were paid for by two anonymous donors hoping to inspire other residents to “pay it forward” in some way. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

Harris Courts residents Jim W. Hinter, Joyce A. Wood, Marie A. Lavancha, Alice J. Hooper and Beverly A. Carr accept four-packs of 60-watt LED light bulbs from Harrisville Hardware owner Robert J. Bernhard at the 20-apartment residential community in Harrisville on Friday. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

Harrisville Hardware owner Robert J. Bernhard and his staff member Joyce A. Wood began distributing the 1,600 four-packs of 60-watt LED light bulbs on Friday that were paid for by an anonymous donor. Mr. Bernhard gave the donor a reduced price for the bulbs and agreed to distribute them for the next month to support the initiative. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

HARRISVILLE — The distribution of four 60-watt equivalent LED light bulbs to the property owners of each residence on the Harrisville Central School District tax roll — paid for by two anonymous donors — began Friday.

As word spread throughout the town of Diana from those who had seen one of the flyers about the initiative, people started trickling in to Harrisville Hardware, 8288 Route 3. Hardware store owner Robert J. Bernhard helped the donors and an anonymous organizer purchase 1,600 bulb packs for the grassroots project at a reduced price and agreed to distribute the bulbs.

With cases stacked neatly on the shelves of his storeroom, Mr. Bernhard and his employee Liza J. Atkinson have a list of the property owners so they can keep track of who has received their LEDs.

“Many thanks to those people who are sponsoring this,” reads the end of the flyer taped to the check-out counter. “And maybe this will encourage some of us to ‘pay it forward’ like they are — albeit in a smaller way, lol.”

For Maple Street resident Richard V. Dowling, who stopped by the store Friday afternoon for a four-pack of bulbs, the effort made by the unknown neighbor reminded him what small-town life is all about sometimes.

Harrisville Hardware employee Liza J. Atkinson hands Richard V. Dowling, a Maple Street resident in Harrisville, his free four-pack of 60-watt LED light bulbs on Friday afternoon at the store. A pack for each residence on the school tax roll and all of the community’s older adults living in the 20 apartments of Harris Courts were paid for by two anonymous donors hoping to inspire other residents to “pay it forward” in some way. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times

“Someone is very generous and it just tells me how great it is to live in a small town where people care about other people,” Mr. Dowling said. “I hope others do ‘pay it forward,’ too, just as I intend to.”

Mr. Bernhard said he is helping to implement such “a great idea that gives back to the community” because he hopes by inviting community members in to get their bulbs, people could see how his store has evolved since he has owned it restored it over the past eight years after it had fallen on harder times.

Renters living at nearby Harris Courts were included in the distribution because as senior citizens on fixed income, helping them was a large part of the inspiration for the project, according to the organizer.

Mr. Bernhard brought cases of the bulbs to the 20-apartment complex and was greeted by five residents, all fans of LED bulbs for their brightness and because the bulbs seem to “last forever.”

“By our age, you go for what’s the best value,” said resident Beverly A. Carr.

The residents described the initiative as “fantastic” and “phenomenal.”

“I just want to know who the donors is,” said Marie A. Lavancha, with Mrs. Carr adding, “Yeah! We can’t even thank them!”

Taxpayers with renters are encouraged to distribute the bulbs for their renters to use. Renters who would like to pick up their bulbs directly are encouraged to contact their landlords first.

The organizer estimated that each pack will save a resident an average $40 on their electricity bill which is a $25,600 savings for all property owners combined. Over the estimated 10-year lifespan of the LED bulbs, that means the project could save the community about $265,000 for a relatively small investment, based on industry standard energy usage estimates.

The bulbs will also keep about 576 tons of carbon out of the atmosphere — 72 pounds every year at each residence, over 10 years, the flyer said, based on industry standard calculations.

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