Christmas spirit echoes among neighbours

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This article was published 11/12/2020 (2119 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For a decade, Paula and Jason Paterson have lived in the shadow of their Linden Woods neighbour’s spectacular Christmas display.

Festooned with 80,000 lights and more dazzling decorations than you could shake a candy cane at, Dayle and Al Jasper’s home on Shorecrest Drive has won top prize in the annual Linden Woods lights contest multiple times over the past decade.

“He (Al) does such a good job,” Paula said, wearing a face mask as she chatted in the foyer of her home.

“I call him Clark Griswold (the lights-loving character played by Chevy Chase in the 1989 seasonal staple National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) and he’s like: ‘That’s a huge compliment!’ He loved it. He’s the star of the street.”

When the Patersons moved into the neighbourhood about 10 years ago, they quickly realized it would be impossible to compete with the best and brightest holiday showcase on the block.

“We weren’t resentful at all,” Paula said. “We were in awe of it. Nothing but mad respect for all the work that goes into a display like that.”

Now, however, the Patersons are gently stealing some of the spotlight with what has to be the most subtle lights display in a community that has become famous as the most brilliantly lit in the city.

It began about five years ago, when the Patersons were having a friendly chat with their lights-loving next door neighbour.

“We were joking with him one day and my husband said: ‘I just want to put up a sign saying ‘ditto,’ with an arrow pointing to your place,’” Paula recalled with a laugh. “(Al) said: ‘I’m going to make you that sign. What colour lights do you want?’

“My husband wanted green lights, because he’s a huge Green Bay Packers fans.”

Al contacted a good friend, Matt Pearson, a mechanic in Kelowna, B.C., who whipped up the sign out of rebar and had it shipped to the Patersons. The minimalist display on their front lawn has become a quirky icon of Winnipeggers’ annual Christmas lights tours.

Instead of simply driving past the relatively dark Paterson house without a glance, people stop their cars to snap photos of the little sign that says “Ditto” and points to the dazzling display next door.

“Everyone just knows us as the ‘Ditto house,’” Paula said. “I feel bad we’re getting so much attention for our little sign. It only takes us five minutes to put up every year, but Al is such a good sport about it. We have the best neighbours.

“I see people taking pictures on our lawn of the sign. I’ve seen it pop up online on Twitter and TikTok. People will send it to me and say, ‘Look what I saw online!’ It’s such a small little thing.”

Meanwhile, she’s thrilled the sign is generating huge smiles amid a pandemic that threatens to steal joy from the holiday season.

“I think people do need something to smile about right now,” she said. “It’s nice to put a smile on everyone’s face. People just think it’s funny.

“It’s bumper-to-bumper traffic as soon as it starts getting dark. By 5:30 p.m., there’s a continuous stream of cars until I go to bed.”

Standing on her elaborately decorated porch, Dayle Jasper said she’s delighted the sign gets so much attention.

“It’s all in good fun,” Dayle said. “Everyone shares the glory. We all do it for the community. It cheers people up. People come and take pictures on the lawn.

“Our cul de sac is called ‘the North Pole.’ The traffic is insane. This year, it’s been crazy. It’s bigger this year because there’s nowhere else to go.”

As she chatted with the Free Press, Al was at work but able to watch and offer comments through their high-tech doorbell camera.

“I take holidays after Halloween every year to put up 80,000 lights, and it takes me about 80 hours,” Al chimed in, adding with a laugh: “We put in 80 hours to set ours up and they get all the glory.”

However, he said, the “Ditto sign” fits hand in glove with his award-winning display, which gets bigger each year and, along with about 20 illuminated wreaths and dozens of Christmas characters, now features a massive metal Merry Christmas sign made by their mechanic friend that adorns the side fence.

“I love Christmas and I love the lights,” Al declared. “I think the lights are more important for the children than ever before, and that’s awesome!”

As for possibly being considered the Griswolds of Winnipeg, Dayle laughed under her mask and replied: “I guess so. If that’s what you want to call us. We could be considered that.”

No doubt the Patersons would just say, “Ditto!”

 

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca