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Welcome to Lemon Grove Drive!
The video was taken by one of our neighbors. I thought he did a great job!]
Our celebration of the holidays is a highlight of the year on Lemon Grove Drive. We are a unique community in many ways: our homes were all built out at the same time, so we were all strangers; I held a “street tea” shortly after most of us had moved in, and we became acquainted from the start; we have held many events, including barbecues, an Independence Day celebration, progressive dinners and even formed a woman’s group–the Lemonettes.
But one year, our next-door neighbor–we call him Mr. Mayor–suggested we wrap our oak trees (one in front of each home) in white lights. The trees were still small then, so it didn’t take much effort to wrap the trunks and toss a set of lights over the branches. The trees are so tall now that we can only wrap the trunks! A small group of the guys spends a week to 10 days putting up the community lights, and most of the lights on each home are done by the homeowners who choose to do it.
A number of people in the community try to taint the experience due to jealousy, I expect. The rumors are that we pay people to put up and take down the decorations; that people have to pay anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 when they move in to pay for the whole thing; that the homeowners association takes care of the whole thing for us. There are probably lots more of these whisperings. But for the most part, people love what we do and thank us for continuing the tradition.
When we light off the whole street, around December 1, we have a gathering of drinks and appetizers. I’ve discovered that even as an introvert, I’m enjoying our time together, even the white elephant exchange. Each year we get to know each other better, feel more comfortable with each other, and enjoy the camaraderie.
It is definitely a blessed time of year.
Published in Culture
I forgot to mention that one of our talented women makes jewelry and she brings a huge selection of drop earrings and matching bracelets of many different colors, which she invites us to choose from. After all these years, I have an awesome collection for every outfit!
Excellent! There is a neighborhood in Knoxville (about an hour from our house) that does a spectacular light display as well. Your post reminds me that we need to go see it again this year.
Wow! It looks more elaborate than ours. But it’s the intention that matters most. I hope you get there this year.
I normally do a walk-around our neighborhood, taking video and still photos of my neighbors’ decorations. I may do that soon. Stay tuned.
Some people in my neighborhood have elaborate and beautiful displays and some have a string of the old fashioned colored bulbs along the gutter and some have just a bush or a door. I love them all as no one has told them to do this.
Some people in my neighborhood have elaborate and beautiful displays and some have a string of the old fashioned colored bulbs along the gutter and some have just a bush or a door. I love them all as no one has told them to do this.
That’s terrific, Gary.
It sounds like magical Susan, and your neighbourhood sounds like the type of community you see on hallmark movies but you never expect to exist in real life.
On a much smaller scale, I got my outdoor crib up a few days ago.
Beautiful video but even more wonderful neighborhood! What a lovely community you live in Susan.
Happy Chanukah if I don’t interact with you in the next couple of days.
Did they relocate from Brooklyn, NY? The neighborhoods in Brooklyn are known for huge Christmas displays.
This is the Dyker Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn that was close to where I grew up. But a lot of the Italian-American neighborhoods enjoyed putting up Christmas decorations
Beautiful!