TOWAMENCIN – The vibrant, colorful lights accompanied by popular holiday tunes make this St. Andrew’s Way home impossible to miss. Neighbors constantly watch as locals drive through and even park in the neighborhood’s cul-de-sac to catch a glimpse of the holiday masterpiece. Some people have even dropped off their unwanted Christmas decorations at the home’s driveway to come back the next year and say, “Hey, there’s my stuff! It’s out there!”

The family working behind the scenes of this beautifully decorated home is the Walters, who continue to annually expand their collection of lights and figurines with no intent to stop.

“Well, my father started when I was young,” said Jim Walter, the mastermind of the decorations. “When I lived in the city, he started decorating the house, and it was the brightest house on the city block.”

Even when the family moved into the suburbs, Mr. Walter’s family’s home was still the most brightly lit house on the street.

“That’s how it all got started, from my father doing it. He’s still 72, and he still does his house. When I went to school to become an electrician, of course, it just took off from there for me, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and now it just keeps growing every year,” Mr. Walter said.

The house features thousands of lights and over one hundred plastic figurines.

“I started counting the lights years ago, but I just stopped counting,” Mr. Walter laughed regarding the countless number of lights glowing in the front yard.

In addition, the display features wooden cut outs of popular Christmas characters, Heatmiser and Snowmiser, who are both over eight feet tall. There is also a cut out of the Abominable Snow Monster, Bumble, who towers over twelve feet tall. All of the characters were precisely drawn and painted by Mr. Walter’s talented 20 year old daughter, Ashley. The similarity between the cut outs and the actual Christmas characters is extremely impressive.

“We have three things that are ready to be painted, but she just has to find time to paint them,” Mr. Walter said of Ashley’s upcoming works.

One of Ashley’s three works in progress is the Grinch–the woodwork is done, and the outline of the Christmas celebrity is already complete. Mr. Walter believes it will be ready for next Christmas.

Ashley’s works, along with the rest of the huge display, undoubtedly look fantastic. However, much time and effort is required to make the house as bright and spirited as it is.

“I used to start a week before Thanksgiving. Because it got so big, now I start right after Halloween. The first weekend after Halloween is when I start tearing everything out of the attic and the garage and start setting everything up. It takes me over a hundred to get everything up,” Mr. Walter said.

However, the time and effort are well worth the final product.

“My neighbors say that there are constant cars coming in and out of the cul-de-sac. I know this coming weekend is probably going to be busy out there.”

However, with the crowds that come to see this festive sight come the town’s own local holiday Grinches.

“I had someone unplug everything on our front yard one time. Yeah, I wasn’t too happy about it, but my wife thought it was funny,” Mr. Walter said. “I also had some stuff taken already from the front yard.”

Now, signs are posted in the front of the display, warning that the yard is under surveillance to prevent such people from taking the decorations that Mr. Walter has been collecting for years. However, the community still seems to make up for the lost decorations.

“My wife and I would come home and there would be [decorations] sitting on our driveway. I had no idea where it came from. But our collection just keeps getting bigger. One of our newest things is the six foot Santa on the front porch. You can’t miss him.”

The dancing and singing Santa on the front porch of the Walter’s home is truly quite difficult to miss and adds just another great feature to the holiday collection.

The house is decorated for about a month, first lit on the Friday after Thanksgiving until Mr. Walter eventually begins removing the decorations on New Year’s Day to avoid having the decorations buried by snow. The house is truly a sight to see this Christmas holiday.