Lawn decorators find joy in passing faces
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

They're the tireless warriors whose lawns sparkle and glitter and fill most all of us with holiday cheer.

Our neighbors who can't help themselves when it comes to decking the home for the holidays seem to have one thing in common: They do it because it makes them - and the rest of us - happy.

"I just enjoy it when other people come by and sit there looking at it, and I can hear the kids in their cars saying, 'Oh look, mommy!'" said Larry Staff, who works at the city's inspections' office. "And our kids love it. I just enjoy it and it's wonderful to see everyone else get into the Christmas spirit and put their lights up."

Right now, he's behind on his decorating.

"I haven't got anything up yet, that's fixing to be dealt with tomorrow," he said. "We went to Houston last night and got more lights and decorations."

He hopes his "health holds out" through the vigors of the weekend.

"I'm not supposed to be climbing trees, so I have to watch that," he noted.

Staff said he's been decorating his yard at Ave. I and South Street for "probably about 30 years."

"It started with a few lights on the sidewalk, and from there it went on to more and more every year," he said. "Now I've got a whole storage building out back full of it, plus in the attic too, so I've got quite a bit."

The Quail Hollow Drive home of Robert and Leona Mollner is always a stand-out during the holidays.

Leona makes all her own wooden cutouts for their lawn.

"I love to paint and I love Christmas," she said. "This year I did all the Disney characters: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Donald Duck, Daisy, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Huey, Dewey and Louie … and then I have Scooby Doo and all those characters."

Her lawn decor isn't something thrown together at the last minute.

"I start in July, planning what I want to do, then I start painting right away," she said. "Robert, my husband, cuts them out for me and I do the painting."

Inspiration can come from anywhere, she said.

"Usually I get coloring books and go from there," she said. "But last year, the El Campo post office had this box with the Disney characters on it, and I fell in love with it, so I did that scene off the box they had."

She said the entire interior of her home is decorated as well, including the utility room.

"Ever since I've been married, we've been doing it, for, oh, 39 years," she said, as her dog barked, which triggered angels in one room to begin singing "Silent Night."

One of her prize decorations comes from the old RB Department Store.

"When we were kids, we'd drive by and see all the Santa Clauses and animated people," she said. "I was lucky enough to buy one of their Santas. He's standing next to the tree by the baby grand piano."

She said their collection of interior and exterior Christmas decorations is so vast, "it's stored at my husband's machine shop."

"I keep telling Robert I'm getting too old for this, but I don't stop," she said.

Norman Burkhalter hasn't stopped, either. In fact, he took a day off work to get started on his home's holiday overlay.

He was surrounded by tubs and stacks of Christmas decorations earlier this week, far more goodies than his yard on South Street could possibly contain at one time. He was picking and choosing which items would go into this year's lighted display,

working hard to make up for time lost when it rained non-stop over the previous weekend.

"I started on Thanksgiving Day, so I didn't get to watch football," he said. "My mom is 70 years old, and this is what she wants, so she's going to get it."

Burkhalter said he feels having a twinkling candy-cane lawn border, glowing, moving blow-up displays and layers of lights draped on the house are well worth the $100 they add to his electric bill.

"We're not going to live forever, right?" he said.

In the same neighborhood, Manuel Orta, who works as a butcher at H-E-B was doing his best to pull together his lawn's decor.

"Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I do it for the kids," Orta said. "We look forward to it."

He'd already placed spirals of white lights in the shape of trees and Christmas banners in the yard, and deposited a large snowman on his front porch.

"I always try to get somebody to help, but end up doing it myself," he said, laughing.

When interviewed, Orta was getting ready to hang strands of lights from the edge of his roof, while his wife worked on decorating in her own way.

"She does the inside, I do the outside, and of course I have my little helper," he said, referring to his 2-year-old grandson, Ryan Marin, who wasn't quite focused on the task at hand.