MONTAGUE — It’s no surprise that some of the most elaborate holiday decorations displays are on Griswold Street.
The Eggleston and the Kuczek families are neighbors, and much like the comedic Griswold family from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, they like to fill their yards with decorations to the point of blowing a fuse.
Starting in 2004, the two neighbors began to decorate their yards with blow up penguins and snowmen, hung lights on their houses and even included an appearance from Santa himself.
Jon and Luann Eggleston and Theresa and John Kuczek said they’re friends with each other, despite a little competition once a year.
“It started when we put out three figures, and it all snowballed after that,” Luann said. “We just kept buying more and more. Now, we have a full attic and basement.”
She said she remembers they’d put out their display for the evening, and then they’d look into their neighbor’s yard, and the next night, the neighbor would have a new decoration.
“We’d look out the window and say, ‘Where are they going?’ Then they would come back with boxes,” Theresa said. “It got to the point there wasn’t much room in our yards anymore.”
She laughed and added that each house had extra outlets installed to be able to accommodate the decorations. Both couples said it takes many hours to put up and take down the displays.
“We always get asked to do it,” Jon said. “We love it, but it’s a lot of work. It takes eight hours to take it down.”
Theresa said every year they feel like they have to make their displays bigger and bigger. The families said neighbors in the area, most recently on Montague Street, were inspired to do elaborate displays themselves.
“We’ve even had people drop off decorations,” Jon said. “There’s been a random box (left here), and inside, brand new decorations.”
John said there is “a method to the madness when laying out the decorations, because you don’t want it to look cluttered.”
These neighbors often appear to have a balance between their displays — the Kuczeks had a 20-foot Santa to match the Eggleston’s 20-foot snowman.
“One year we got a little competitive and they bought a wall and we got a canon that shot snowballs,” Jon said. “Then we got a wall and they got a canon so it looked like an intense snowball fight. It was mostly balanced, but then we got a real life Santa to come and that sets you apart from the rest.”
Santa himself stands outside of the Eggleston’s house at random dates throughout December, handing out candy to children and saying well wishes. Luann said she remembers one year when Santa asked one of the children walking by if they enjoyed their mac and cheese for dinner.
“The kid’s jaw dropped,” she said. “They were so surprised that Santa knew.”
There was also one year where the Egglestons had carolers at midnight on Christmas.
“We definitely won that year,” Luann joked.
The families said there is no “winner” of the competition – the point is to give local children a display to look at. Both houses are a short walk to the Hillcrest Elementary School.
“We really do it for the kids,” Jon said. “We turn them on early on the last day of school before their winter break, so they can see it on their way home.”
The Egglestons and the Kuczeks said people enjoy the displays so much that local senior centers will drive by on their bus to stop and look at the lights, and families will walk down the street to see it and listen to holiday music that is typically played by the Kuczeks.
While the families say they dialed back their displays this year, they’re still buying decorations. They even thought of trying to connect the two light displays with an arc over the street one year after going to Bright Nights in Springfield.
“You have to get inventive,” Jon said. “The worst part is when you plug in that last plug and it all goes out.”