Eiffel Tower in Rio roundabout is a small touch that makes community feel special | Opinion

When it comes to community building, the little touches mean a lot.

I knew that already, but I got a reminder when I took a few days off around Thanksgiving.

My wife and I visited family and friends in Tennessee and Oklahoma. Our travels took us through Memphis and Nashville, towns where we had lived for many years.

The two municipalities separated by 200 miles of interstate have a few things in common — booming downtowns, rich musical histories, and some of the best food you'll find anywhere. (And I'm not just talking about barbecue and hot chicken. If you're a foodie, you owe it to yourself to visit one or both of those cities whenever you get a chance.)

Nashville and Memphis have profound differences, though, some of which are readily evident even to visitors just passing through.

In Memphis, there's a noticeable lack of attention to detail to some of the basics. Potholes go unrepaired for what seems like weeks or even months. Litter and other debris, including tires and discarded furniture, accumulate along the sides of busy roadways. And some overpasses are so overgrown with weeds, it looks like trolls might live beneath them.

Nashvillians seem to be more fastidious about that sort of thing. There's some blight, sure, but it's much harder for a casual observer to spot. The Tennessee capital city's residents seem to recognize how important first impressions can be, particularly to tourists or people who might be thinking about moving there.

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All of which brings me, in a roundabout way, to Rio, a small Martin County community located between Jensen Beach and Stuart.

I've always liked Rio, even if thinking about the place does cause the Duran Duran song of the same name (but not the same pronunciation) to get stuck in my head.

With its collection of mid-20th century bungalows and non-chain businesses, it's a part of the Old Florida that's rapidly disappearing.

But Rio is more than an oasis from U.S. 1-style development. It's always struck me as a place where community pride still matters, even at a time when more and more neighborhoods seem homogenized to the point of blandness.

The LoPilato family has done nothing to discourage that opinion. In fact, the family has reinforced it.

Jim and Susanne LoPilato moved to the community more than two decades ago. As many families do, they have been decorating their home and yard on Martin Avenue for each of the past 10 or 12 Christmas seasons.

About six years ago, they decided that wasn't enough. They set their sights on spreading their brand of holiday cheer to the roundabout at Dixie Highway and Martin Avenue, near one of the southern entrances to the community.

This year, they've added a new twist. Susanne, an avowed Francophile, convinced her husband to build a 12.5-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower, the most recognizable landmark in Paris, France. They adorned the mini-monument with Christmas lights and placed it at the center of the roundabout.

For good measure, the family also decorated 25 streetlights heading in different directions from the roundabout, making them look like giant candy canes.

For motorists traveling between Jensen Beach and Stuart, the effect is striking, particularly at night. The only thing the scene seems to be lacking is a band of beret-wearing Christmas carolers, belting out holiday favorites with French accents.

"A lot of people think it's the county doing it, but it's our family," Susanne LoPilato said. "It is a gift of love to the community and beyond."

That's a key point to note here. This wasn't a government initiative, although Martin County officials surely must be aware of what the LoPilatos are doing. After all, Jim works for the county's parks and recreation department.

No small amount of time or expense is invested in the family's efforts. Susanne said preparations begin around Halloween, so the decorations will be ready by Thanksgiving. This year, the family spent $300 to rent a scissor lift to make installation of the lights easier.

The family uses LED lights, which are supposed to be more energy efficient than standard incandescent lightbulbs.

If this were a holiday movie, some grumpy neighbor would probably be lobbying to have the decorations removed. Apparently, that hasn't happened.

In fact, others in the community have tried to support the family's efforts.

Debra Harsh, owner of the Beach Comber Hair Studio, (an inspired name for a salon near the coast, by the way) has chipped in $200 each of the past couple of years to defray some of family's costs.

"I don't have a lot of time to do what they do, but I can give some money to help with their expenses," Harsh said. "We are glad to have them in the neighborhood. Every neighborhood should have a LoPilato family."

Julie Preast, secretary/treasurer of the Rio Civic Club, expressed pretty much the same sentiments.

"Rio residents and others who enjoy the Christmas decorations are extremely grateful to the LoPilato family for the initiative, planning, creation, and installation," Preast wrote in an email.  "Every year the topper for the roundabout is one-of-a-kind — it is crafted by hand by the LoPilatos."

The Rio roundabout decorations aren't as elaborate as some others in the area, such as the annual Christmas light display at the nearby Robert & Elsa Eustace Mansion in Jensen Beach. But they don't need to be.

What the LoPilatos are doing is perfect for the size of the community in which they live. And they have no plans of stopping.

Although development plans for the Rio Marine Village call for the roundabout's removal, there will be other opportunities for the LoPilatos to work their magic elsewhere. When I spoke with her a few days ago, Susanne said the family was making plans to put wreaths on the archway where Dixie Highway enters the community.

"We're rogue decorators," she said. "We're going to decorate the arch, too, because it's there."

Like Harsh said, every neighborhood could use those types of rogues.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at blake.fontenay@tcpalm.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Eieffel Tower replica in Rio roundabout adds Christmas cheer | Opinion