Two houses better than one when it comes to Christmas lights
Two houses are better than one when it comes to Christmas lights.
It takes four weeks for neighbours Hayden and Ange Buckley and Brian and Megan Jeevaratnam to set up their lights with this the third year the Cambridge families have combined the two households display as one unit.
It’s been worth the effort with the beaming decorations now awaiting thousands of visitors. The duo couple have decided to fundraise for the local animal rescue shelter in Cambridge through the Christmas lights.
Hayden Buckley remembered when he was a kid, his parents took him to a big Christmas lights display in Wellington, and now he wanted to see the same excitement on other children.
‘‘It is just seeing and hearing how all the kids love the lights . . . the satisfaction of seeing how everyone reacts to the Christmas decoration.’’
Buckley started the full house display six years ago and said every year it just got bigger. When he moved to his new home , the neighbours chipped in too and that marked the beginning of a joint Christmas decoration.
‘‘On average, it takes about four weeks – a couple hours after work and weekends – to put up the lights.
‘‘Every year thousands of people come around to check out the lights. We get all age groups – from young families, middleaged to elderlies.’’
The two families will be fundraising for New Lives Animal Rescue, and have started a Givealittle page.
‘‘Brian and I wanted to do something for the community on top of the lights, so we set up the Givealitte page and all funds go to the animal rescue,’’ Buckley said.
The lights are turned off every night after 10.30pm, but will remain on all night this Saturday and on Christmas Eve, which is also when the venue will host Mr Whippy and a coffee cart.
The decorations come down a few days after New Year.