By By MaryClaire Foster
From an amount of lights that would make Clark Griswold envious to traditional greenery and red bows, homes in Atmore host a wide range of Christmas decorations.
For the last five years, John Roberts has been decorating his home with thousands of lights, spanning across his yard and house.
The party of course, is the birth of Jesus Christ and Roberts wants to make sure it’s remembered as the reason behind all of the decorations. To do so, Roberts keeps the secular and religious separated, with snowmen and Santa to the left of his house and a Joseph, Mary and Jesus to the right.
While Roberts keeps his decorations separate, Ruberta Hadley and daughter, Sandralyn Thompson, have a bit of organized chaos.
Hadley and her daughter live next door to each other in Perdido and both had a taste for lots of lights.
Both Roberts and Hadley said the extra lights do not raise their power bills by too much. Roberts estimated his at $100 more and Hadley said she was not sure exactly how much but that “it’s still worth the extra light bill.”
Unlike the Griswold’s menacing neighbors in the movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” Roberts and Hadley both said people are always telling them how much they enjoy the lights.
Roberts said his main motivation is his grandchildren’s excitement over them.
Hadley said she loves the lights and wants others to enjoy them just as much.
Gregg Akins said the almost life-size nutcrackers adorning his front porch were so enjoyed by one woman who was driving through town, she wrote down his address and mailed him a letter asking to call and tell her where she got them.
Akins said that there were already nutcrackers throughout the inside of the house before he got the ones outside.
Mary Gibbs’ decorations are also more traditional, with lighted greenery and red bows covering their front porch.
Gibbs said she keeps adding to the decorations every year and enjoys the process.
The Roberts home is located at 107 E. Ashley St. The Hadley and Thompson homes are located in Perdido at 22231 and 22195 Old County Rd. 47. The home of Gregg Akins and Tim McCollum is located at 406 S. Main St. The Gibbs home is located at 402 Pensacola Ave.