Oldsmar family spreads holiday cheer with Christmas light show

The Christmas light display at the Orlando family home on Lafayette Boulevard in Oldsmar. Credit: Melinda Orlando.

The Christmas light display at the Orlando family home on Lafayette Boulevard in Oldsmar. Credit: Melinda Orlando.

Remember “back in the day,” when nearly every home in the neighborhood would sport Christmas lights and other holiday decorations, turning entire communities into mini North Poles?

Indiana native and Oldsmar resident Melinda Orlando recalls that era, when kids trick-or-treated all night long, and the Christmas decorations would go up Thanksgiving weekend and not come down until after the New Year.

Today, it seems like not nearly as many homes are colorfully lit during the month of December, especially here in balmy Florida.

So in order to bring that nostalgic feeling to her corner of Oldsmar, Melinda and her husband, Steve, decided to go all-out decorating their Lafayette Boulevard home this year in hopes that their neighbors, and everyone in town, would follow their lead.

“I grew up up north, and at this time of year, all the houses would be decked out,” Melinda Orlando to Oldsmar Connect. “We’re really big on community, so we wanted to bring that same thing here.”

The Christmas light display at the Orlando family home on Lafayette Boulevard in Oldsmar. Credit: Melinda Orlando.

The Christmas light display in the backyard of the Orlando family home in Oldsmar. Credit: Melinda Orlando.

Melinda, the mother of a two-year-old who founded the Oldsmar Moms Facebook group and works full time, said she and Steve came up with the idea of decking the halls, and the rest of their property, shortly after moving into their new home three years ago.

“We’ve always had a big Christmas party every year, and when we moved over here from State Street, we wanted to do all the festive decorations and lights,” she said. “We wanted it to glow from the road.”

“We always did Halloween decorations, so for Christmas we said we gotta go big here!”

Going big included stringing 64 of strands of lights along the entire front of the house and another 26 strands out back, plus putting a 14-foot tall Christmas tree in the back yard, complete with two 8-foot reindeer flanking each side.

Orlando said the scene was a huge hit this year, as their backyard turned out to be the perfect backdrop for a holiday party.

The tiki bar at the Orlando family home on Lafayette Boulevard in Oldsmar. Credit: Melinda Orlando.

The tiki bar at the Orlando family home on Lafayette Boulevard in Oldsmar. Credit: Melinda Orlando.

“People said it looked like the Magic Kingdom or an old town square,” she said. “It quickly became the backdrop for holiday photos.”

“And they loved the decked out tiki bar, which is the true mark of a Florida Christmas!”

Orlando said the lights and decorations definitely lead to a more festive atmosphere at their annual party, and she noticed that more of her neighbors have added lights ever since they put theirs up.

“No one has topped ours that I’ve seen, but I hope someone tries,” she said.

Melinda added that she hopes her family’s attempt to spread holiday cheer catches on in not just in her area, but in the entire community of Oldsmar.

“We live in such a great neighborhood and community, and we just love the City of Oldsmar so much,” she said.

“We feel that town spirit is growing, and whatever we can do to get more holiday spirit in Oldsmar, I’m all for it.”

 

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