Neighbours light up homes on 54 Street
Christmas season starts with 'Griswolds' homes
Simon Whitehouse
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Christmas seems to officially be in the air as local "Griswolds" - named for the famous family in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - have begun erecting elaborate decoration displays in their yards across town.
One of the novel homes can be found on 54 Street where Neil McKee and Denise McKee have started putting up lights and other unique decorations.
Their son Conlan McKee, 17, has autism and attends Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre for woodworking. He has begun adding woodworking ornaments on the yard so that all of the decorations aren't simply store bought.
More importantly, however is that Conlan's condition keeps the family grounded in the "euphoria" surrounding Christmas even as the family grows older, said Denise.
"Christmas and Halloween - once they kick in, he knows the house is going to get decorated and this is one of his big things that everything has to be decorated from the inside out," she said.
"As I have noticed as the other kids get older, Christmas becomes more about 'Let's go out for a little while with our friends.' He has that almost euphoric thing that you can never hold onto. The magic of Christmas and he keeps it real for all of us. It is infectious how much joy he gets out of it."
Almost directly across the street, Robin Staples with
his wife Emma Pike and seven-year-old son Peter Staples are looking forward to the holiday season with a very well lit up home in the style of a gingerbread house.
Staples said he has only begun lighting up the street within the last few years but likes that he is participating among neighbours who are sharing in similar cheer with yard decorations. The house includes candy canes on the front and side of the house as well as classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer characters on the roof, deck and fences.
"I always loved the Griswold movie and I now have a young son who is seven, though we started when he was five," he said. "We wanted to make the place look kind of magical and we began building with tons of LED lights and a few other fun characters around the house.
"It has been a pretty active street on the Christmas light front."
