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Date: 12/1/2022
WESTFIELD — Now through Jan. 2, Westfield on Weekends (WOW) is having its third annual Holiday Lights Tour. It’s one of the many events of DecemberFest, Westfield’s holiday celebration of their most popular traditions.
This self-guided tour gives families the chance to showcase their outdoor holiday displays with each decorated home marked on an interactive map at westfieldonweekends.com and on WOW’s Facebook page.
“It’s a great way to celebrate the holiday season,” said Bob Plasse, president of Westfield on Weekends. “For my families, it’s a tradition to take a tour of Westfield neighborhoods to view the houses that have been decorated. WOW’s interactive map is an easy way to plan an evening drive-by.”
Formed in 2003, WOW is a volunteer, nonprofit organization producing diverse and accessible events celebrating and enhancing the community life in Westfield. Holiday decorations were part of the organization from the start, as one of its first events was an indoor house tour to raise money for historic preservation in Westfield. The idea of going from house to house became a longtime tradition that they called “Dickens of a Day House Tour,” and led to Dickens Days, the precursor of DecemberFest.
When the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancelation of indoor events, WOW reinvented the house tour as a drive-by event allowing homeowners to showcase their outdoor decorations, which are no less creative than the indoor ones.
“Some of the houses have timed lighting shows orchestrated to music and some even collect donations for deserving area causes,” Plasse said. “These are among my favorites, although a simple design with traditional wreath that bring back memories of Christmas in my past really warm my heart.”
Sarah Lynn, one of the participants in the house tour, said a lot of decorators this year are favoring a nostalgic or vintage look. This year, she has red, white and green lights and added a tree that starts at the top of her roof and cascades down, lit in red, white and green.
“That was the first thing we put up this year,” Lynn stated. “It’s our focal point; something new to build off of.”
Lynn and her family moved to Westfield in October 2019. They got involved with WOW after attending PumpkinFest and started following other events that were happening in the community.
“The first year we did the tour was right after the [coronavirus] pandemic was really hitting hard, so we were looking for a lot more in-home things to do. We’ve always been big on decorating for Christmas because my parents were always really big on decorating as well.”
That first year, Lynn had red and white lights and picked decorations based on her Christmas entertainment favorites, like “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
“We’re huge fans of the Griswold family Christmas and have a six-foot Clark Griswold cut out,” Lynn said, referring to Chevy Chase’s character in the “Christmas Vacation” film. “Every year we usually add one thing to it, and it’s been a collection of items that we’ve had for many, many years.”
Lynn worked three to four hours a day to put the red, white and green lights outside, making sure the cords stay in the grass. After three weeks, she’s finished decorating and is happy with the overall look. Lynn’s advice for new decorators to find something they really enjoy, take their time, and make sure they have fun doing it.
“We’re dedicated to doing activities that bring people together in Westfield,” Plasse said. “We hope people will sign-up for the tour and share their holiday spirit.”
Decorators who wish to have their home or business included in the tour can send a message with their street address to Westfield on Weekends on Facebook, or contact@westfieldonweekends.com.