SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — For more than two decades, neighbors on Wakefield Court in Saugus have been coming together to help brighten the holiday with their beautifully decorated light displays. Bill Mehlem and his family had always visited, but they bought a home there this year.
"My wife and of course my daughter, love Christmas and I've become a much bigger fan of Christmas and this is the perfect place," Mehlem said, as he and his neighbors were stringing lights over their street from home to home.
He hasn't even moved in yet because he's still renovating his home.
"So it'll be all decorated and we won't even be living there for the first week," he added.
Neighbors on Wakefield Court started decorating their homes each year as a show of unity after the Northridge earthquake. Agatha Lin has lived on Wakefield Court for 29 years and was one of the people who started decorating more than 25 years ago.
"Another year of testing lights," she said as she pulled out her decorations from her garage.
Last year, Lin and some of her neighbors didn't decorate because they didn't want to contribute to the community spread of COVID-19.
"Now that people are feeling better, hopefully and things have calmed down a bit with the vaccine and what not, it's nice to bring back the joy to the community again," she said.
So while it may be a lot of work setting up, the payoff is when the lights come on, watching as visitors appreciate every detail.
"Hopefully [it will] give a little bit of an uplift in a year that's not been so great for a lot of people," Lin said.
As for Mehlem, he said his first year on Wakefield Court would be a learning experience because he's not only new to this neighborhood but decorating in general.
“Never strung a light in my life, I’ve put up like maybe a few Christmas trees, hung a few decorations and that was it,” he said.
Despite his lack of lighting experience, Mehlem said he's excited to help brighten the holidays not just for his family but for the community.
