ROCK CREEK — Duane and Karen Pacholke delight in the kind of warm, sunny Thanksgiving Day northeast Ohio enjoyed Thursday.
They use the holiday as the kick-off for their holiday decorating extravaganza, which transforms their North Main Street, Rock Creek, home, trees and yard into a Christmas wonderland.
Thursday morning the couple strung lights, hung ornaments, set up lighted plastic figures and decorated an artificial tree planted in their front yard while most people fretted about the progress of their turkey or lumps in the gravy. For the Pacholke’s, decorating on Thanksgiving is as much a tradition as eating a slice of pumpkin pie or watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“We bought this house in 1982 or 1983 and we’ve decorated it every year,” says Karen.
“On Christmas and Halloween,” Duane says. “When our children were young, they used to help. Now it’s just us.”
“We sort of do it for the whole neighborhood, it’s pretty much for everybody in town,” Karen says.
The huge display, which includes animated figures, grows each year by at least a figure or two. Duane estimates that they will string at least 5,000 bulbs around the property. Every tree gets decorated except a pine to the north of their house; it grew too tall for decorating. Duane says there’s a string of lights at the top that he didn’t retrieve before the tree got out of hand.
The job will require at least two to three days of unpacking, hauling and setting up decorations. Duane even hangs plastic reindeer and candy canes from the high branches of the hardwood trees around their house. He says children like to watch the reindeer dance in the winter wind.
They strive to have the entire display ready by Dec. 1, although weather sometimes interferes with that target. Duane says he always likes to have a little fresh snow on the ground for that moment when the lights come on the first time.
The display is on a timer, and although thousands of bulbs suck electricity through their meter, the increase in their utility bill is modest, about $30 to $40, says Karen.
Once the exterior and grounds are decorated, the couple turn their attention to interior decorations. Duane is in charge of taking it down and packing it away at the end of the season.
“It’s a pretty big project, but we like it and the people around here in town seem to like it and beep when they go by at night,” he says.
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Rock Creek family’s tradition is to create a Christmas wonderland
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