life-style, christmas, christmas lights canberra

Andrew Luton is on the roof of his house in Burraly Court, Ngunnawal, tying down just a few of the thousands of lights that adorn the neighbourhood. “Two more knots and I’ll be with you,” he calls down. The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Burraly Court, a little cul-de-sac that is becoming known for some of the best Christmas lights in Canberra. Andrew is also firing up the barbie as friends and neighbours gather at his home at No.36 to celebrate Christmas together and watch the passing parade of visitors to the street, all entranced by the yuletide display that has been created. READ MORE: Canberra’s ultimate Christmas lights map for 2020 Lights stretch across the street and homes in the cul-de-sac add their own displays of lights and inflatable Christmas characters. “We moved here four years ago and we’ve just added our Christmas lights and it’s grown and grown,” Andrew said. “It just brings people together. We hire a cherrypicker to get up high into the trees.” And then he joked: “We almost always get divorced each year. Dan Murphy’s does well out of us.” Katie Luton said they always collected items for a charity, guests this year donating items for the Ngunnawal street pantry. She says the street is so welcoming, that they will have to one day extend their house as they never want to move. “Everyone is always looking out for each other, we’re always doing things together. We go on holidays with the neighbours. We love it,” she said. Amanda McLoughlin, from No.37, is carrying craft supplies for the kids, across the road over to the Lutons’ house to join in the Christmas celebrations. She and husband Ross have lived in Burraly Court for 11 years. “This is the party time of the year for the street, it’s really, really social,” she said. “And it’s a time when we all come together. There’s a few older neighbours and they can’t do it, so we do the lights for them. “When new people move in, it’s like, ‘Do you do lights? And if you don’t, we’re going to do them for you’. “The designs and the discussions for the lights start at Halloween. And the lights are just getting better and better.” Greg and Bev O’Neill, at No.43, have the best seats in the house. They open their garage door and sit inside, watching the lights and the entranced visitors to the street. “Oh, they’re beautiful,” Bev said, of the lights. “Absolutely amazing. They’ve done such a fabulous job.” Greg, 72, and Bev, 78, have lived in Burraly Court for 26 years. “It’d have to be the best street in Canberra,” Greg said. “The neighbours are so good. They look after us oldies,” Bev added. Tracey and Danny Hoffmann, at No.38, were early adopters of the Christmas lights, living in Burraly Court for almost 20 years. They originally strung up the lights when their children Jessica, now 13, and Billy, 11, were toddlers. They love seeing the people come to the street to see the lights. “Everyone is just really appreciative and after the year everyone has had, I think people want to enjoy some harmless fun. It brings the community together, I think. So complete strangers come back each year,” Tracey said. “We didn’t set out with any real purpose other than to bring the neighbourhood together. We may not see some people all year and then all of a sudden, we’re seeing them every night. It’s just a really nice community thing to do.” Jeff Adams, at No.30, works for Bunnings in Gungahlin. He entered the street into an internal Bunnings competition for staff across Australia and New Zealand showing the Christmas spirit. It was part of Bunnings’ #challengeaccepted campaign supporting local communities through challenging times this year. Burraly Court won the competition in the ACT and was given $10,000, which the neighbours donated to Headspace, a non-profit organisation supporting young people and mental health. “We were ecstatic,” Jeff said. “We’ve spoken about doing a charity thing for a while and when we won the money, everyone in the street was over the moon. All that hard work had paid off for charity.” And while you’re in northside, head over to Belconnen to some other special lights in McKellar. Phillip and Pamela Smith started displaying their Christmas lights in 2001 in “a moment of weakness and stupidity”, according to a half-joking Mr Smith. But he’s grown to love it. “It started off me and now my husband is the Christmas freak,” Mrs Smith said. “He calls me his artistic director. He’ll put things up and then call me out to have a look and I’ll say, ‘No’!” The couple’s Tipping Place home features about 100,000 LED lights at Christmas time. They even visited the Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Michigan, billed as the world’s largest Christmas store, and came back with a shipping container full of decorations. “I haven’t wanted to ever add up how much we’ve spent over the years,” Mrs Smith said. Their motorised Christmas characters in their front window are from Promotions in Motions, which also does the famous David Johns shopfront window displays at Christmas. And in 2006, they made The Canberra Times when they used a 50-tonne crane to hoist a massive fibreglass Santa on to their roof. A storm later broke the support on the Santa and he now resides outside the Bredo Christmas Barn, the Smiths swapping him for other decorations. They enjoy the visitors to their street. “We get a lot of nursing home buses come by,” Mr Smith said. “We watch the drive-bys, I call them. Hubby has the list [of lights] and mum is hanging out the window taking photos with the iPad. “Others stop and the kids get out and they spend 20 minutes having a look around.” And, in case you’re looking for them this year, the famous Christmas lights of Bissenberger Crescent, Kambah, are having a rest this year, with promises to return next year.

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