For Pompano Beach resident Lucille Levy and her husband David, decorating for Christmas doesn’t start after Thanksgiving, like for most residents. Decorating the inside and outside of their home begins in October and even that leaves them with little time to be ready for the holiday.
With more than 50 Christmas trees decorated in her house, a six-foot Santa and just about every Christmas character known to man also on display, Lucille said she often spends about 15 hours a day getting ready for her favorite holiday and time of the year.
"It’s a forest," Lucille said. "I’m still working on it."
The Levys moved into their Pompano neighborhood in the 2700 block of Southeast Sixth Street eight years ago and upon their first Christmas, they found their ? neighbors’ homes to be an elaborate Christmas display and they wanted to join in on the fun.
"It’s competitive, but it’s a friendly competition," Lucille said. "We feed off each other."
Along with their neighbors, Dave and Amanda McCaffrey, and Mark and Patti Macek, the Levys helped turn almost the entire block into one Christmas lights extravaganza.
"You can see it from Google Earth," David Levy said.
Once the outside decorations are up, the Levys said getting hundreds of vehicles that drive by is a nightly occurrence.
"Sometimes, I can’t even take the dog out for a walk," David said.
Christmas was always a special holiday for Lucille and every year her work gets harder and the decorations become more elaborate, but she said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
"It’s uplifting," she said.
Wanting to include the entire neighborhood in the celebration, the neighborhood group offers an annual block party that easily nets about 500 people, Lucille said. The celebration also includes a performance by the Broward County Mummers String Band, a 30-piece band.
The Levys often spend most of their free time around the holidays decorating their home, and they said the joy and happiness it brings to other people is why they spend so much time and money – the electric bill quadruples.
"I feel I can’t disappoint them," Lucille said. "We get joy from other people’s joy."