It takes Mike Phillips and his wife, Lauren, about 70 hours to put up all of their outdoor holiday decorations, which range from a talking Santa, to blow-up reindeer eating from a trough, to impressive light displays at their house in Methuen.
“It’s the smile on the kids’ faces when they come out to see the lights,” Phillips said. “I enjoy sitting out here, seeing the cars drive by.”
That sentiment seems to permeate the region, as colorful displays line neighborhoods – sometimes accompanied by music – giving the public a chance to go for a drive and take it all in. To help with such treks, the 2023 North Andover Holiday Lights Map offers highlights in North Andover, Methuen and Andover. It’s a work in progress and is updated daily as people add locations online (for details, see related box).
The Phillips moved to the Sampson Street neighborhood in Methuen in 2019. They had a few items to celebrate the season. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Phillips said they decided to bump up the display.
“There’s about seven houses on the block now, too,” Phillips said. “All of these guys light up.”
Lights are strung across the street from Phillips’ and Jeanne Roche’s home, creating a cohesive neighborhood experience.
Roche said she has been in the neighborhood for almost 20 years but never decorated prior to Phillips’ display.
“I would come home every day and there would be little extra stuff,” Roche said. “Of course, this year I bought more stuff.”
There are newcomers in the neighborhood too, like Benny Montanez, who moved to Methuen in 2022.
“It just gets you in the holiday spirit,” Montanez said.
Montanez said his 4-year-old son gets home each night and sees Santa and other holiday decorations lit up and in full action.
“He gets so excited,” he said. “I look forward to him coming home and saying ‘It’s Santa!’ It’s just really amazing.”
The homes also host a drive-by after Thanksgiving, which Phillips said brought in about 500 people this year.
“It was our biggest year yet,” Phillips said, adding that in 2020 when nobody could really see Santa, his father, who is a professional Santa during the season, sat out on the street and greeted children as they came by.
“He actually had to stand in the middle of the street because there were cars coming each way.”
At night the Phillips put up cardboard cutouts for families to take pictures with. This year, they also have a mailbox for children to send letters to Santa. And, Phillips said, each letter gets a response.
Now, Phillips said his family and neighbors watch groups of people walk up and over the hill on Sampson Street to take in the displays. Montanez said they can practically “feel the joy coming” with the visitors.
Other such enthusiasts in Andover and North Andover are included on the holiday lights map. A house on Andover’s Tobey Lane even accompanies the family’s exhibit to the music from a radio station.
Some houses keep the displays simple where others, like Carolyn Sheridan of North Andover, use their whole yard.
“We just wanted to add some light and joy to the Christmas season,” she said. “I love hearing the kids drive by and yell.”
North Andover homes have displays that include minions, Rudolph leading the sleigh, and even a plethora of Disney characters.
“It’s a lot of fun what we do,” Phillips said. “We do it really big over here.”
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