A porch full of stuffed teddy bears. A Christmas tree made entirely of hubcaps. A blinding array of lights, snowmen, elves and candy canes.
These are not just typical holiday lawn decorations.
“Each year, it gets to be a little more,” said Patsy Dailey, a lifelong resident of 34th Street in Hampden.
The block lit up this weekend for the Miracle of Lights, an 18-year-old tradition, in which the households in the 700 block elaborately adorn their lawns and porches.
The tradition is believed to have started when a few young girls would knock on everyone?s door to ask when neighbors planned to put up decorations, said Dailey. “Then everyone got into it,” she said.
In the beginning, some lights were put out and wreaths were hung on the door, but today Dailey?s teddy bear-covered porch could rival a display at famed toy store FAO Schwarz.
Dailey said she starts setting up her decorations about a week before the post-Thanksgiving lighting. But others start as soon as the day after Halloween.
The decorations, which will be up until after New Year?s Day, are lit each night after sundown and stay on until about 11 p.m., Dailey said.
Down the street, newcomer Elaine Doyle-Gillespie has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, and jumped at the chance to move into a 34th Street home in August.
Her decorations centered on a peace theme, which she said reflected her desire to celebrate several religions. Under her line of flags with the word “peace” in several languages, she included a book for visitors to write their own vision of peace.
“We wanted it to be interactive, so people have to think about it,” she said.
Although it?s not in the homeowner contract, most neighbors oblige each year, often whether they want to. Former renter Tracey Manders, who was stuck decorating the porch, said it was a lot of work.
“That was more than enough for me,” she said of the lights she would hang.
