No place like decorated homes for the holidays

See the lights
No place like decorated homes for
the holidays
By Vickie Jurkowski
14
Z1, Z2
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music and showcased on YouTube has brought the tradition a
long way, too.
But for many, the classics are
still keepers.
Nostalgic plastic blow molds
– those hollow snowmen, Santas,
elves and penguins you see on
folks’ front lawns – and handmade
designs are popular as ever this
holiday season.
“I’d say I have one of everything,” said Rick Tarulis, whose
home at 827 Morven Court in
Naperville has been featured on
HGTV and the Naperville Trolley Holiday Lights Tour since it
started 17 years ago. “If I see a
new Santa or elf or candy cane, I
buy it.”
Plastic Santas, elves and
candy canes are joined on his lawn
by Mickey, Minnie and Snoopy.
“The nostalgic blow molds
are still one of our most popular
items,” said Rick Septoski, marketing manager for Tinley Parkbased retailer American Sale,
where the plastic figures range
from $14 to $200.
An animatronic plastic blowmold Santa in a handmade chim-
familytimemagazine.com
ney has been the centerpiece of
Bill Christoffel’s display for 25
years, from Des Plaines to his current residence at 1622 Clarence
Ave. in Arlington Heights.
“Santa comes out of the chimney whenever a car goes by and
music comes on,” said Christoffel, who is also slowly converting
some 6,000 lights to LEDs. He
used his electrical engineering
skills to create a chain-driven
assembly and also hid a motion
sensor and FM radio transmitter
inside the chimney.
The Pop-Up Santa action triggers a nearby blow-mold snowman
to spin on its saucer sled. Tarulis,
an attorney and grandfather, also
incorporates homespun ingenuity
into his holiday décor. He designed
the 17-foot steel snowman on the
The Frohn residence at 1443 W. Briarcliff Road in Bolingbrook features
52,000 lights, 100 flashing snowflakes, 20 blow-mold soldiers, 30 ball ornaments made from Solo cups and filled with 100 lights, four large inflatables,
a wooden sleigh and reindeer, candy cane tree, a train and an airplane.
Photo: Courtesy of Jack Frohn
I
f parental warnings of “Don’t
use the hair dryer while your
brother’s running the microwave!” were a normal part of your
childhood, you know all about the
interior hazards of oodles of outdoor lights during the holidays.
Two things may have happened since: You got enough of
the lights and ensuing fiascos as
a kid and now leave the extreme
decorating to others; or you caught
the family bug for the Christmas
crazies and spend October and November lining the perimeter with
soldiers and candy canes, dotting
the rooftop, gutters and trees with
lights, and filling the yard with a
party of penguins, snowmen, elves,
Santa, his sleigh and nine reindeer
to rival the North Pole.
Whether you fall into category
A or B, looking at the lights and
other holiday décor likely is an
undeniable treat for you and your
family year after year.
Those who take on the task
of keeping the tradition alive
say LED lights have made their
“fun hobby” more simple and
economical. Technology enabling
displays to be synchronized to
Photo: Courtesy Rick Tarulis
Thousands of LED lights and dozens of plastic blow molds decorate the Tarulis home at 827 Morven Court in Naperville. The display has been featured on
HGTV and the Naperville Trolley Tour since it started 17 years ago.
side of his house on a piece of
notebook paper and had it fabricated at a welding shop. He sawed,
drilled and painted pegboard and
incorporated drop ceiling light
covers to make four-foot stockings
and candy canes for the front of
the house.
LED lights have improved his
30-year decorating tradition.
“About four years ago I maxed
out all the power” and an electrician recommended a new meter,
subpanels, etc.,” Tarulis said. “Instead I switched to all LED. They
use one-tenth of the power and
last forever. It’s very economical.”
Modern also meets nostalgic
and handmade at the Frohn residence in Bolingbrook.
The house itself is almost
invisible amid 52,000 lights and
20 plastic soldiers outlining the
corner property at 1443 W. Briarcliff Road.
Jack Frohn, a letter carrier,
and his wife Laura Frohn, a former letter carrier now in manage-
ment, add plenty of homespun
ideas to the store-bought décor.
They designed their own flashing
14-inch snowflakes, which used to
be sold at grocery and hardware
stores, and 110 snowflakes are on
display from the rooftop down.
The couple modified a friend’s
idea for ball ornaments made
from Solo cups and filled with 100
lights, and gave him some snowflakes in exchange.
“It’s quite a task” to make 30plus ball ornaments, Jack Frohn
said, “and each year our trees get
bigger so we have to make more
and add more lights.”
Family members and friends
also have contributed handmade
décor. Hanging in trees and on
the North Pole are elves created
by the Frohns’ nephew, Garret
Popek, who also made a video of
the display (www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ldj4YAtxbFE). His late
father Bart Popek made a wooden
sleigh and reindeer for the Frohns’
front lawn.
Neighbor Peggy McMillan did
the elves’ hair and clothed them
thanks to Goodwill.
The handmade décor has
another way of bringing people
together. Laura Frohn has a tradition of hiding small elves in the
snowflakes for kids to find.
The couple handed out 1,600
candy canes to onlookers last
year. Santa even makes an appearance at the Frohn residence,
with this year’s visit set for 6 to 9
p.m. Dec. 8.
“It’s … um … big,” Jack Frohn
said about their holiday display,
which Annette Wehrli of Naperville Trolley & Tours Ltd. (www.
napervilletrolley.com) calls “the
largest of them all.”
While it’s a given that the
Frohn and Tarulis homes will be
featured on the tours, Wehrli said
residents call her to request being
on the tour and don’t always
make the cut, even with four trolleys operating every single night
in December.
“More and more people are decorating and synchronizing displays
to music and LED lights,” said
Wehrli, also known as the Trolley Chick. “Now there are enough
homes that we do a north tour and
a south tour. Going around looking
at lights brings friends and family
together.”
“We used to do it for them,”
Jack Frohn said of decorating for
the couple’s three children, who
have grown up and moved away.
“Now it’s a tradition for the trolleys and literally thousands of
people who come by and we get to
meet them. There’s a group of au
pairs from all over the world who
come and it’s amazing to see the
shock on their faces as they take
pictures and send them instantly
to their (native) homes.”
The Rest of the Story: Read this
story in its entirety and see many
more photos of decorated homes on
our website at www.familytimemagazine.com. •
tell them you saw it in the December family time magazine
•
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