Tips and tricks for home decor
It’s that time of the year when people drive around at night to see houses that have been elaborately decorated for the holidays. We have updated a list that we ran last year. The list was compiled from recommendations sent in by Journal readers.
Darren and Lisa Hawkins, 1005 Hazelwood Drive, have been decorating their home for five years. They started with a static display and have added several thousand lights every year. This year they are aiming for more than 50,000 lights and have added computer controls.
Darren Hawkins has an FM radio transmitter that allows him to transmit music you can listen to in your car while you watch the lights. Just turn your dial to radio station 102.5 FM.
“Then drive around the house to enjoy our many wire-frame displays and inflatables,” he said. “Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces brings back a moment of childhood.”
The Hawkinses will light up their display starting this weekend, and the lights will be on Sundays through Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. until 11 p.m.
For the safety of onlookers and because of the dangers of electricity and water, the Hawkinses may not turn on the lights during inclement weather.
To see their display: From downtown Winston-Salem take U.S. 421 north to the Jonestown Road exit No. 239. Turn left onto Jonestown Road. Travel eight-10ths of a mile and turn left onto Crestview Drive. Turn right onto Hazelwood Drive.
You can’t miss it. The Hawkinses are among many local folks who light up their yards for the holiday. Following is a list of some other yards to check out this holiday season:
❑ It’s all in the family for the folks out on Jonestown Road. Putting up lights for five years and adding on each time are Jack Bullard, his wife, Debbie; his sister and brother-in-law Kim and Homer Craig; his aunt and uncle Libby and Kyle Fulk; and his mother and father, Peggy and Jack Bullard Sr.
Their dressed up houses are at 1516, 1522, 1524 and 1526 Jonestown Road.
“We enjoy doing it for the kids,” Jack Bullard said. “Sometimes Santa Claus appears, but you never know when that’s going to be.”
The lights will go on from 6 to 11:30 p.m., Saturday through Dec. 31.
❑ Clarence Huie, at 315 Graydon Court in Lewisville will turn on his outdoor Christmas light display from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1.
Huie has been adding to his display for about 10 years and has more than 50,000 lights, mostly in animated displays. He does the work, he said, because the people who come to see it appreciate it so much, and, “It reminds people that Jesus is the light of the world.”
❑ For more than 10 years, Arthur Ford ‘s holiday decorations have been catching the eyes of people driving up and down University Parkway near Northwest Boulevard.
Ford’s house at 1112 Rundell St. is on a hill. The lot climbs steeply toward the back where such towering trees as oak, poplar and black walnut grow. After Ford retired from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., he began decorating the trees in spectacular fashion by suspending homemade lighted ornaments - some 6 feet tall - high in the trees’ branches.
Between the slope of the yard and the height of the branches, an ornament may appear 100 feet in the sky from certain vantage points. He started with a single star.
Ford has since created about 30 giant ornaments, which include angels, snowflakes, crosses, candles, a candy cane, a bell and a crescent moon. His lights, many of which turn on automatically at dark, will go up Dec. 1 and remain burning for about five weeks.
❑ Wayne Davis’ home at 4755 Randall Ave., off Jonestown Road near Country Club Road, features a display with animated lights.
His display contains more than 35,000 ribbon lights. He joins the religious themes of Christmas with a patriotic theme, including such decorations as a manger, a big Christmas tree, a Bible, crosses, American flags and a carousel. Strobe lights in trees give the illusions of flying angels, and a lighted Christmas gift disappears to reveal the manger scene.
Lights will be up on weeknights from 6 to 10 p.m. and on weekends from 6 to 11 p.m. until the first full weekend in January. Through the wizardry of computers, Davis has set his lights to go on and off to music.
❑ At 1301 Whitworth Court, Kernersville is the home of Robert and Lynda Frailey. The Fraileys’ display contains more than 4,000 lights and includes two giant greeting cards, Santa Claus and reindeer flying over a house that he built, and shrubs decorated with lights. Robert Frailey has been decorating outside for at least 55 years. The display will be on from 6 to 11 nightly until New Year’s.
❑ John and Mary Harp, 4975 Spainhour Mill Road in Tobaccoville, have been putting up Christmas lights for several years. They will have more than 15,000 lights around their yard and house. The displays include a nativity scene, snowmen, Santa Claus, reindeer, a big Christmas star and an igloo. Many of the displays are multicolored.
The lights will be on from 6 to 9 p.m. through New Year’s.
John Harp also suggested that people go see Christmas lights at the home of Mary Hauser, his mother-in-law, who lives on the same road at 5125.
If you want to see lights from all over the world from the comfort of your couch, check out http://www.planetchristmas.com and click on “showing off.”
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