Beloved Christmas light display returns more than a decade after it was destroyed by vandals
After more than a decade in the dark
By Laurie Perez
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PASADENA, California (KCAL, KCBS) — After more than a decade in the dark, a holiday staple has returned to Pasadena for a new generation of families.
The old school display, which was put together by George Courville at his home on Monte Vista Street, was once destroyed by vandals, leading to the prolonged period of time that the family didn’t set it up.
“The house was vandalized three years in a row, and at $800 to $1,200 dollars a year to keep repairing everything, it kinda go the best of me,” Courville said.
In 2009, KCAL News covered one of the incidents, which saw a group of people destroy the beloved display with baseball bats. That was the last year the Courville family decided to set their display up, ending a tradition dating back to when his father first started setting up the show in 1964.
Courville says he felt a void in his heart without the annual celebration.
“It was immense. It was beyond words, the feeling, you know,” he said. “I had lost pretty much my life.”
He decided to comeback this year, once again filling the front yard of their home with retro decorations, many of which he salvaged by hand.
Other decorations were brought to life by a neighbor, and former mechanical engineer who used to work for Disney.
Though the vandals broke his heart all those years ago, he says they never were able to break his Christmas spirit, much to the delight of people flooding the street to check out his home.
“Christmas means a lot to me, it’s more than just one day. It’s the season when we can all feel good, put all our differences aside and enjoy the friendship that we have,” Courville said.
He turns the lights on from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. every evening, but keeps them on an hour longer on Friday and Saturday nights.
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