The spirit on display

Twinkling lights illuminate the homes of Clarendon residents Glen and Susan Bailey, Steve and Robin Sell, and Larry and Jamie Jeffers. Cars passing by slow down, pause, and even stop to gander at the beauty of the various Christmas decorations that temporarily engulf these houses. As multicolored lights shine, Christmas spirit from these homes spreads to all those witnessing their glow.

“Our main goal is to cheer people up,” Glen Bailey said. “Everyday life will get you down, and hopefully it makes people happy even for a little while when they come by. That’s what it’s all about.”

These families are displaying their Christmas joy by “going to the extreme” with their Christmas displays, as Bailey said.

“We’ve always decorated, it’s just gotten bigger and bigger because we’ve got more grandkids,” he said. “We have about 23 blowups outside our house right now. Too many after season specials. We try to get at least one blowup a year if we find one we like, but last year we got four.”

All three families agree that the weeks of putting up their decorations are well worth it when they see people’s reactions.

“Sometimes I just stand in my living room and watch people get out and take pictures with their kids,” Larry Jeffers said. “It’s neat to watch. If you’re a grinch, then you don’t need to come by the house.”

At the Sells home, there are light shows set to music. The songs they included this year are from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Yule, and the worship band from Trinity
Fellowship in Amarillo.

“We’ve had some people who have been in tears after seeing our music with the lights,” Steve Sell said. “We look out at the window every night just to see who is all out there. It’s really fun to watch the little kids. They dance in the street with the music playing. They get pretty into it.”

One of the main reasons the Jeffers and Baileys decorate is for their grandchildren.

“We have seven grandchildren, and one of our granddaughters calls our house a ‘Christmas Wonderland,’” Bailey said. “As long as we can afford to, we will go to extremes for our grandkids because Christmas is special for them, and they will always remember it. You’re only a kid once, so we feel like this is important.”

The grandchildren are not the only ones enjoying the lights, though. These spirited families are receiving compliments from many people for their decorations.

“We had people at Halloween thank us for the Christmas decorations before hand,” Bailey said. “We have people stop and tell us how much they enjoy it all the time, and we see cars lined up and kids leaning out with smiles on their faces. It makes us feel good that we’re making others feel good.”

All in all, the mass of extension cords and breakers is plugging in more than mere lights – it’s also turning on Christmas spirit.

“Christmas is our favorite holiday, and we hope that everyone is enjoying our display,” Bailey said. “I hope we’ve inspired more people to decorate. There’s no such thing as decorating too much.”