Dave Fuller and his wife love Christmas.
For proof, look no further than the couple’s home at 90 Akins Dr. where the joy of a holiday display knows no bounds.
It’s certainly not the only house in St. Albert where every square inch of the property is covered in lights. There are homes on Woodlands Road and in Erin Ridge that are well covered and lit up, but for Fuller the brightest home on the block doesn’t mean the best.
“It is not a competition. I just keep doing it every year,” he said.
“I have had kids come to the house and ask if they can feed the reindeers apples. I love Christmas, my wife and I love Christmas. Our whole house is done up inside and out.”
Fuller said he’s added to his display, bit by bit, over the years.
Among the features of the Fuller’s front lawn is a team of reindeer ready to haul Santa’s sleigh as well as a rotund family of snowmen. Presents hang from the trees and there are more than a dozen light-up candy canes surrounding the drive.
The roof is covered in lights, as are several large trees on the property and most of the back fence.
Fuller, a retired Edmonton firefighter, said it takes quite a bit of work to dress up the house, but he likes to chip away throughout the fall.
“I go up on the roof in about mid September and I do it, so I don’t have to be up there on the ice in winter,” he said. “It takes me a good two weeks outside about four, five hours per day to set it all up. I keep doing a little bit and then a little bit.”
Fuller has done a lot of the work himself — he built the reindeer and the candy canes, the latter using burnt-out fluorescent light tubes. The driveway is lit up with small round tubs that look almost like over-sized gum drops, but are in fact ice cream containers with lights underneath.
For the past few years, the spectacle has also been one for the ears after Fuller added some holiday tunes.
“Two years now the music has been going steady. It is really nice when it is not too cold and there are people walking,” said Fuller.
The display is also today a strong endorsement of green technologies. Fuller, who has been setting up the lights for more than 30 years, recently switched to LED lights, drastically cutting his power bill.
“It used to run me $300 or better, but now with the LED it is a tenth that.”
Much like when he puts it up, the process of taking down the display will be slow. Fuller said he starts in early January, but the roof and the work on the tall trees will happen in the spring when the snow has melted.
