In the Village of Brownlee is a Christmas light display that has grown so big over the past two decades that it takes up two lots and can be seen from the highway.
If one drives down Main Street and turns onto Brock Street, one would come across a massive display featuring Santa and Mrs. Claus, reindeer, candy canes, lights, snowmen and other festive features.
The LED lights turn on at 5 p.m. and shut off at midnight daily, so it should be easy to visit the home.
All this Christmas creativity can be attributed to Michael and Doreen Worotniak, who have been lighting up their properties — more than an acre — for 15 years after retiring in 2007 and moving to the community. While he looks after installing all the outside lights and she decorates inside, they do everything as a team.
Over the years, he has added so many lights that passersby have told them that they have an “absolutely fabulous” display.
“It’s quite noticeable,” Worotniak said.
The couple puts up the lights after Remembrance Day — to honour veterans — and takes them down after Ukrainian Christmas in January because that’s Michael’s ethnic background.
For the past three years, a woman from the Tugaske library has organized a Christmas light tour of 35 to 40 displays in nearby communities and area farms. Attendees — more than 50 vehicles took part one year — could then rate which display they like best.
“We were very blessed. We took the No. 1 spot (one year),” said Worotniak.
The couple has been married for 59 years — next April is their 60th anniversary — and have hung Christmas lights wherever they have lived. They didn’t have big or flashy displays when they were first married, only some lights and a tree.
Some of their decorations are 30 years old and still packed into their original boxes.
“I’m told I am (fussy for not buying new). But when things cost money, you look after them like a car,” Worotniak said.
The couple loves illuminating their property, not because they want to show off, but so people can enjoy and appreciate it, he continued. He knows people who have come from elsewhere to look because someone told them about it.
“It’s gratifying to us,” he said, while they love Christmas, enjoy people visiting and appreciate the thank-yous.
Worotniak hopes to continue installing the lights for as long as he can, but at age 81, he admits he’s slowing down. It’s also becoming harder to climb the ladder every winter — this year took a little longer and more effort — while his arthritis makes it slightly painful.
“We’re not as agile as we used to be,” he said.
It was about eight years ago that Worotniak considered quitting. However, he was hanging out at a community business when a grandfather and grandson walked. Upon seeing Worotniak, the boy said — and kept saying — to his grandfather, “There’s the light man.”
Eventually, the boy tugged on Worotniak’s jacket and asked if he planned to install the lights that year. He replied that because of his age — 73 then — he might not do it. A tear appeared in the boy’s eye and he walked away crestfallen.
“(After) we came home, I told Doreen, ‘I’m not quittin’,’” he recalled.
Worotniak doesn’t think he’s pig-headed for not asking for help but says he simply doesn’t know how to ask for assistance. It’s less about being stubborn and more about being independent. He says he will likely ask for younger help if they continue — which they plan to.
“It’s been a lovely ride so far and I can’t see it changing,” he added. “And the good Lord-willing, we’ll keep up with it.”
