By Megan Miller, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – As a child, Mike Dennis always enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree, so as an adult, he couldn’t wait to begin decorating his own home.
Dennis has lived on Worthington Drive in Trussville for around 12 years, and always has the exterior of the house decorated the week after Thanksgiving. He begins decorating in mid-October, starting with the lights in the bushes, and then putting up the polar bears, penguins and Christmas trees the week of Thanksgiving, as well as decorations in the back yard, including palm trees and a snow man on the diving board.
“Every year it gets to be a little more, or I change things out,” Dennis said. “I move things around to make it a little different.”
One of the new additions in recent years has been a virtual Santa.
“He’s on a projection screen, so it looks like Santa is walking in the house, drinking milk and eating cookies,” Dennis said. “I’ve had people that’s been on the way to the house next door, and they put it in reverse and come back because of the virtual Santa.”
Dennis also added a playhouse this year, but this was a scenario when trial and error came into place.
“I put a chimney on it and used a fog machine, hoping it would fog enough sitting out there idling that it would look like smoke was coming out of the chimney,” Dennis said. “That was a try and fail there, so I just removed the fog machine from that.”
Although Dennis isn’t on a main thoroughfare, he said he enjoys the process of decorating and sharing the decorations with those in his neighborhood.
“People that do know where we are come by in their Christmas attire and take pictures in the yard,” Dennis said. “I have families that come by and they even come inside because we decorate heavily in there as well.”
Dennis said that it’s all about a love of Christmas.
“There’s not a lot of people that do displays like this anymore,” Dennis said. “It’s a labor of love.”
20 Comments
Magen Nelson
Love our sweet neighbors! ❤️
Patricia A Peoples
Linda Calvert Venable and Debora Johnsey here is one we missed.
Debbie Goins Baker
Dawn Baker
Shauna McLeroy
How can we find that home?
Debora Johnsey
How did we miss it?
Patricia A Peoples
We didn’t go to that house.
Rhonda Antkowiak
Me too!!
The Trussville Tribune
It’s at 208 Worthington Dr. in Trussville
Debbie Talley Taylor
Beautiful as always. We look forward to our annual drive by.
Scott Coffey
Who has the house in pepper tree ? It is awesome !!
Shannon Venable
Donnie Jones
Judy Wright Lockridge
Their decorations are always awesome..
Lauri Garrard Newton
My besties!!! Laura Cardwell-Dennis
Aisha Johnson
Johnson Jay Zee Howard
Jackie B. Johnson
Impressive!
Lori Liddell Phillips
Oh, Laura Cardwell-Dennis send Mike our way, please.
Faith Bobo Roy
good job
Faith Bobo Roy
good job
Carol Barnett Patton
This is beautiful. Way to go Mike.
Patricia Gugliotta Hoffman
Wow, that’s pretty!