‘This is where he lands’

Christmas decorations glitter Sunday night on Tedsen Lane, where residents pull out all the stops for the holidays. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Residents unofficially rename it Santa’s Runway each holiday season.

“This is where he lands when he comes to Crescent City,” Tedsen resident Mike Buck said of Santa Claus.

The spectacle of lights and lawn ornaments, including Santa on a motorcycle, started small, but in the last 12 years has grown to involve six of the seven houses on the block, and attracts carloads of sightseers each year.

“On weekends it will back up all the way to Lake Earl Drive,” Buck said. “Two nights ago we had a city bus come through.”

It’s worth the drive. Heading north on Lake Earl Drive, Tedsen is the first  left turn north of Elk Valley Cross Road.

The sheer number of lights and amount of work necessary to turn night into a brilliant-hued Christmas version of daylight is staggering.

From lawn ornaments to bejewled trees and talking Santas, it’s an attraction that needs multiple viewings to be fully appreciated.

Christmas decorations glitter Sunday night on Tedsen Lane, where residents pull out all the stops for the holidays. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Residents say that the annual tradition of lighting up their neighborhood has increased in momentum much like a snowball rolling downhill.

“I’ve lived here for 17 years,”  said Tedsen resident Christie Babich. “It started out smaller, everybody doing little bits here and there. But we kept adding each year, and this is what it’s become.”

Babich, who is supported in her Christmas spirit by her son setting up the house’s outside decorations and daughter passing out candy canes to weekend visitors, gets a kick out of the people coming by.

“I’ve always decorated my house for the holidays,” Babich said. “It just started overflowing onto the rest of the property. It’s real nice seeing people come and by and enjoy all the lights.”

Buck, who actually looks a little bit like a lean and well shorn Kris Kringle, agrees that the power bill is worth spreading Christmas cheer.

“I consider us the most Christmased block in Crescent City,” said Buck, whose father may have started the extravaganza going 12 years ago. “Ever since I’ve grown up we’ve had Christmas lights. It’s rewarding to watch all the people coming by, their faces lit up and happy.”