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Light displays make holiday festive

Alpena is a community that really gets into the Christmas decorating spirit. I know other communities have people who decorate their houses too, but I can’t speak to those communities since I don’t go to them at night very often. But Alpena …

Drive around at night and you will see light displays of some sort on most blocks. Some are simple lighting displays with lights around the front windows and door while others are full-on challenges to Las Vegas illumination.

The number of people decorating fluctuates from year to year. While there are other factors, the weather does play a role. When it’s warmer or there isn’t much snow, you will see more people outside putting up decorations. Years when we have a lot of snow … not so much.

Every Christmas Eve, like hundreds of other people, my parents and I used to get a quick bite to eat just before dusk then drive around town to see all the displays. We would drive from one end of town to the other, keeping an eye out for those displays on side streets, etc.

Barrington Circle is a must-see destination for anyone who is out and about and looking at displays. The entire subdivision is lined with luminaria and all the houses have their lights on full display. A sign asking you to just run your parking lights greets you, though some makes of vehicles don’t allow you to not have lights on when it’s dark. Kensington Court, right next door, keeps the lighting going.

The North Street neighborhood just off of Third Avenue does it up right as well. Music is coordinated at one house and you can listen to a frequency on your car radio for the ultimate experience.

To list every place that has great lighting displays would require more space than there is here. Suffice to say, Alpena embraces the decorations.

When my nephew was really young my parents would take him around earlier in the season to see the displays. He and my dad would get out and walk around in some of the yards where he could to look at the displays.

Most residents who have lived here for any length of time will remember lighting contests. Those who entered the contest were put on a map that ran in the newspaper so people could vote for their favorites. My parents and I used that map many times to use as a starting point.

Well, times changed and the contests went away. Combined with a downturn in the economy, the number of lighting displays went down. There still were people who kept in the spirit, but some people quit doing it, and I’m sure some people who took part moved.

The last few years it seems like more people are getting into the decorating spirit again. Some people, like the Joneses on Truckey Road, never stopped decorating and made the holidays joyful to view for everyone else. Now, more people are getting into the act again.

These people aren’t doing it for the glory, they are doing for the holiday spirit, the enjoyment of others and to just have fun. They like doing it and we are all better off because of it.

These are our friends, our neighbors and co-workers. We see these people every day, some we know and some we don’t. But we all benefit from their efforts.

When you here about a community’s quality of life, these are the intangibles that go toward it. These are the immeasurable qualities; people making the season enjoyable and entertaining.

The holidays naturally bring out the good in people. More people will look you in the eye and say hello. You see more smiles, and despite the holiday rush people, in general, are in a better mood.

Throw in the festive mood and the lighting displays and you see why small town America is a great place to live this time of year. It doesn’t have to be picturesque to be festive, but we have plenty of both right here.

If you haven’t, get out and drive around your community. Enjoy the efforts your neighbors have put forth to make a display. And by all means, if you live in Alpena join the hundreds of people doing it on Christmas Eve. It’s almost like attending an event the whole town has been invited to see.

Steve Murch can be reached via email at smurch@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5686. Follow Steve on Twitter @sm_alpenanews. Read his blog, Pardon, Me But … at www.thealpenanews.com.

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