It usually begins the day after Thanksgiving. Front yards and neighborhoods fill with dads untangling lines of bulbs, and houses turn into bright, blinking examples of holiday cheer.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
On the cover: The lights of 15 Keeler Ave., Moravia. ABOVE: The lights of 4888 Rockefeller Road, Owasco.
On the cover: The lights of 15 Keeler Ave., Moravia. ABOVE: The lights of 4888 Rockefeller Road, Owasco.
Christmas lights are as much a seasonal tradition as trees and turkey. Some local residents spend days setting up their homes with strings of lights, figurines and decorations because they see it as a vital tradition.
Throughout Cayuga County, there are plenty of homes worth swinging by after the sun goes down this holiday season.
In Moravia, the Richards family decided to really go all out last year after they bought a home on Keeler Avenue. Teshia Richards said this week that her husband, Bob, and son, Dylan, started getting the decorations together this year in October.
People drive by on a nightly basis, she said, to see the lights that outline the Victorian-style house. There is even a display of an all-light Christmas tree and gifts on the first-story roof.
“We usually turn them on Thanksgiving night,” Teshia Richards said. “This year we all went outside and did a little countdown.”
Teshia said her family gets excited every year when Christmas rolls around. Putting up a nice light display is a way to share that excitement with others, she said.
“We're very into Christmas, and (lights) just make it feel more like Christmas time,” she said. “We want to do more next year.”
In Auburn, the Casselman family had a Christmas tree in their home before they had moved any furniture in. Kevin Casselman said he started putting up his light display the day after Thanksgiving, but this was not the first set of decorations for the year. The home also has decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“We love the season,” he said. “Everything about it.”
In Locke, Mike Friend sets up the lights at his parents' home on Cruthers Road. He started doing so last year after his mom was diagnosed with cancer.
Each year, he adds a little more to the setup. Friend lit up the shed this year.
Friend said the LED lights and Santa Claus figure make his mom and siblings happy around the season.
“She is just so happy to see it all lit up,” Friend said.
Christopher Caskey
253-5311 ext. 282
christopher.caskey@lee.net
Throughout Cayuga County, there are plenty of homes worth swinging by after the sun goes down this holiday season.
In Moravia, the Richards family decided to really go all out last year after they bought a home on Keeler Avenue. Teshia Richards said this week that her husband, Bob, and son, Dylan, started getting the decorations together this year in October.
People drive by on a nightly basis, she said, to see the lights that outline the Victorian-style house. There is even a display of an all-light Christmas tree and gifts on the first-story roof.
“We usually turn them on Thanksgiving night,” Teshia Richards said. “This year we all went outside and did a little countdown.”
Teshia said her family gets excited every year when Christmas rolls around. Putting up a nice light display is a way to share that excitement with others, she said.
“We're very into Christmas, and (lights) just make it feel more like Christmas time,” she said. “We want to do more next year.”
In Auburn, the Casselman family had a Christmas tree in their home before they had moved any furniture in. Kevin Casselman said he started putting up his light display the day after Thanksgiving, but this was not the first set of decorations for the year. The home also has decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“We love the season,” he said. “Everything about it.”
In Locke, Mike Friend sets up the lights at his parents' home on Cruthers Road. He started doing so last year after his mom was diagnosed with cancer.
Each year, he adds a little more to the setup. Friend lit up the shed this year.
Friend said the LED lights and Santa Claus figure make his mom and siblings happy around the season.
“She is just so happy to see it all lit up,” Friend said.
Christopher Caskey
253-5311 ext. 282
christopher.caskey@lee.net
