BUCYRUS – The Chad Durham family loves to light up their house for the holidays. Other than Halloween, it’s “the most wonderful time of the year.”
It takes several days, but when the last electrical cord is finally plugged in, the home at 844 Rogers St. glows with an array of new and vintage Christmas decorations. Inside and out, on the ground and on the roof where Rudolph guides Santa’s sleigh up into the night sky.
“I’ve always liked doing it because growing up we never decorated very much for Christmas,” said Chad Durham, the mastermind behind the dazzling LED lighting display. “We just started doing it for the kids and stuff and then a lot of people started commenting on it.”
Durham tackles most of the massive undertaking with help from his wife, Amy, who traditionally wraps multi-colored lit garland around the porch railing and front door. “As soon as we take the Halloween decorations down, we start on all the Christmas stuff,” Amy said.
The showstopper of the two-story home is the waving rooftop Santa, sleigh and reindeer, which are supported by a 12-foot long wooden frame that Durham custom built, secured with iron pipe to hoist the reindeer overhead. He designed the heavy piece in two sections for easier storage – and lifting.
A leg lamp from the classic holiday movie “A Christmas Story” lights up the picture window. It was a gift from Amy in 2011 – their first Christmas in their new home. The animated Snoopy mailbox on the front porch is from Amy’s grandmother, who died in 2015.
Polar bears, frogs, snowmen, trees, toy soldiers and other characters line the new landscaping around the home this year. “We change it up every year,” said Durham, who hits the big box stores, preferably during the after-Christmas sales, to buy the majority of the lawn light-ups.
Recently, Durham has also developed a passion for plastic – blow mold figurines from the 1960’s – which he has incorporated into much of the festive decor. A pair of Santas flank the living room mantle, while a wreath, candles and candy canes cast a soft glow on the rest of the room.
“The blow molds were some of the first things we bought, but then they got more expensive because no one made them anymore,” Durham said. “This year I kind of went overboard buying them. I just found seven more at an antique store near Tiffin.”
The Durhams have a daughter, Natalie, and a seven-year-old son, Owen, who are part of the team effort. Their yuletide display officially lights up on Thanksgiving night and stays up until New Year’s Day “and then the first decent day we have we take them down,” Durham said.
Durham purposely set the light timers to run from 5:30 p.m. until 3 a.m. daily so that people who work different shifts can also enjoy their holiday lights. And down the road? He has his sights set on something bigger – a massive lightshow with strobe lights and all.
“I just like to decorate because it makes the neighbors want to decorate more too. And when you go down Oakwood Avenue near the cemetery, nearly every house decorates. It’s just awesome.”
