Light-Hearted Souls

For many, the day after Thanksgiving means eating leftover turkey and watching college football. But to homeowners on Dallas Drive in La Palma, it means plowing through boxes of ornaments, dusting off plastic snowmen and dressing up the neighborhood for Christmas.

For 13 years, residents on this cul-de-sac have spent the Friday after Thanksgiving hanging lights and ornaments in a display that has made the area a favorite for visitors.

The tradition started in 1985, when residents agreed to hang a few lights around their homes during the Christmas season. Now, each year all 18 homes are adorned with hundreds of lights, stuffed Santa Clauses and plastic snowmen and reindeer.

And each December their electric bills double and curious onlookers block driveways, but residents say the expressions of people as they pass by the brightly lit dwellings are worth the inconvenience.

“It’s so nice to see families come here each year and how much they appreciate what we do with our homes,” Lucy Montoya said. “We love to wait and see the reactions of people, especially the ones who are seeing this for the first time.”

Traffic on Dallas Drive was heaviest Saturday as residents held their annual Christmas block party.

Classic cars cruised the block as crowds stood huddled around makeshift fire pits on sidewalks.

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“We’ve known people to come from out of state to see the decorations because they’ve heard what we do this time of year,” Toni Bristow said. She and her husband, Fred, have lived on Dallas for more than 20 years and said people have offered to buy their home just so they could participate in the yearly event.

The annual decorating might discourage some from moving to the neighborhood, but others are eager for the opportunity to show how well they can dress a home for the holidays.

It was one reason Walt and Dianne West moved here from Anaheim last September.

“The whole decorating thing attracted us to this place,” Walt West said. “It kind of reminded me of being a kid again, going from house to house and really enjoying the Christmas season.”

Said Fred Bristow: “It’s a lot of work to do this every year. But it’s worth it to see the smile on these kids’ faces.”

Andre Briscoe may be reached at (714) 966-5848.