CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow might be enough to brighten some homes this holiday season.
But others are adorned with thousands of blinking lights synched to blasting music, drawing crowds and bolstering both holiday and community spirit. In a cul-de-sac in Mesa, Arizona, 14 homeowners have been going all-out on holiday lights for the last 30 years in a tradition that hasn’t been diminished by real estate turnover. Those buying homes in the neighborhood often find the attics full of décor left behind as a gift from the previous owners, and despite cultural and religious differences, residents come together to create a festival of lights, Stephanie Castillo Price said.
“Everybody has been able to take their interpretation of the holidays and put it into a full circle,” she said. “There’s not somebody that’s going to walk down the street and not feel included.” In Santa Clarita, California, residents of Wakefield Court decided to coordinate their holiday light displays as a way to bring some joy to their community after an earthquake.
Now in its 30th year, the Wakefield Winter Wonderland includes inflatable figures and wooden cutouts of a variety of characters, from Mickey Mouse to Homer Simpson. Bryan Cobb admits he initially was against buying a home in the neighborhood when he and his wife first viewed it. “She started crying and said, ‘But this is the Christmas street! I want to live there!’” he said.
“She got her way. .
