Deck the halls and the lawn
Woman got decorating bug from her late mother
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HOWLAND -- She may neither completely rival Clark Griswold for ostentatiousness or gaudiness, nor has she overloaded the area's power grid with too much power consumption, but Melissa Liste has given her neighbors -- and all passers-by -- an eyeful.
"My mom would always decorate a lot. My dad would do the outside and Mom did the inside," Liste, a nurse for Boardman-based Centers for Dialysis Care Home Dialysis, said.
Liste was referring to the teamwork her parents adopted each year to add a colorful array of holiday decorations to their home's interior and exterior -- something that has, without much room for debate, been passed on to Liste. A simple walk or drive within eyeshot of her split-level home on Greenmont Drive SE off North Road quickly reveals such a talent and trait.
It might be easy to miss Liste's residence for the front yard, because the space contains an inflatable elephant and snowman that sings and speaks, stacked gifts made from mesh, a tall toy soldier that moves while playing music, prismatic tree penguins, snowmen, arch and polar bear, Christmas lights on shrubbery that lines the driveway and a set of red-lighted reindeer and accompanying sleigh. Between the two garage doors hangs a large and festive green wreath with a red-lighted bow, and some of the home's front windows are encased in colorful Christmas lights.
Inside her home is a scattershot collection of model villages, motion-activated replicas of Mickey and Minnie Mouse as well as Donald Duck, a rotating and lighted Ferris wheel, a red sled with family members' names inscribed, and various decorations. Nevertheless, perhaps the most prized and sentimental Christmas heirloom is the 7-foot ceramic tree in a corner of the living room that belonged to her late mother, Sondra Hicks.
"Every wall has something," Liste said.
She bought many of the decorative pieces from MAC.BID, a discount auction site, as well as others at an area Walmart, Liste added.
In all, it took about a week to decorate inside and out, Liste said, adding that she and her 14-year-old daughter, Allison, completed the outside portion in about 10 hours. Husband Rob completes the family.
Contrary to what first impressions and assumptions may dictate, the sum of Liste's home and yard decorations is not static, but a yearly work in progress. Next year, she intends to add more prismatic figures to the equation, Liste said, adding that she moved into the residence in 2002.
The lights, decorations and festive holiday pieces, however, also belie the type of Christmas day the family plans to have.
"The three of us will have a laid-back, relaxing kind of day," Liste said.