’Tis the season for long lines at the post office and hard-to-find parking spaces at shopping centers.
’Tis also the season for beguiling shows of Christmas lights. Outdoor trees all aglow with greens, blues, reds, and yellows inject bright and cheerful pops of color into the pitch black winter nights.
One of the most splendiferous exhibits of such is to be found at the home of Robert and Sandra Dickerson on Palm Court, just off South Broadway, near the Santa Maria Inn.
The Dickersons indulge their inner Santa Claus by festooning a huge magnolia tree, and a companion smaller tree, in their front yard with hundreds and hundreds of holiday bulbs that wrap around the branches.
They also install a large Santa in a sleigh (all lit up of course) and huge Christmas packages edged in light. There are giant nutcracker figures and Santas (not lit) strewn here and there around the porch.
All in all, it is so very festive and Christmasy.
“It takes four days to put up the lights,” Jim McGinty of McGinty’s tree service told me and, he added, “two to take them down.” This is a task he clearly enjoys.
Of course, a ladder is not enough to do the job. Robert Dickerson rents one of those vehicles that has extensions that go way, way up—the kind that PG&E and telephone company employees use to fix their equipment. Trimming magnolia trees with lights is not work for the acrophobic or faint of heart. My goodness, I get dizzy just thinking about it.
The Dickersons have won the city’s Best Christmas Lights Award several years running and, finally, they received a lifetime achievement award, which opens the door for somebody else to be the best in the competition.
It’s a tradition with the Dickersons to celebrate the official start of their Christmas season by inviting about 60 friends or so to watch the lights turn on and commence the season, which happened on Friday evening, Dec. 3.
Ron and Mary Nanning, Tim and Jacquie Hedden, City Councilwoman Etta Waterfield, John Glines, and Susie Duane were among those who enjoyed the elegant and elaborate decorations inside and out.
They also savored the sumptuous buffet that was the center of attraction indoors. City Attorney Phil Sinco with Christine Sinco and Chamber of Commerce President Glenn Morris with Shana Morris and Mike and Jan Kirkwood, were among those who schmoozed and hobnobbed
between bites.
Nancy Stewart, Karen Cordary, Lynn Fernbaugh, and Heather Ware socialized with friends in the cozy den while the classic It’s a Wonderful Life played silently on a big TV screen.
Everyone gathered inside until “the time” arrived. Then we traipsed outside, in the dark, and sang a Christmas carol. Methinks we should have rehearsed.
But not to worry. The spirit of the holidays was in full force.
Robert then (drum roll please) pulled a switch and behold: There was light.
High up, the light-laden magnolia branches swayed ever so slightly in a gentle breeze, which added to the charm of the experience.
Folks who travel around town to take in the many Christmas light exhibits will certainly enjoy a jaunt to Palm Court. It’s pretty special.
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you may contact her at [email protected].