ALL ABOUT FAMILY AND GRANDCHILDREN
Mrs Danker said that the Christmas tradition was still going strong in the settlement and was in fact becoming more elaborate, especially with the new lights and decorations available.
She said that they used their own money to come up with the decorations and that there were no sponsors to help them defray some of the costs.
“There is no competition, but every year people tend to do something more because when they go shopping there are new products,” she said, adding that each house used about 30 to 50 boxes of lights for decorations.
She said some of the residents in the settlement were old and they had to wait for their children to come back before they could put up the lights.
“Families come back during Christmas and nowadays people tend to do it for their grandchildren,” she said.
Kenneth Fransisco Marsh, 64, whose house was fully decorated said that he remembers decorating up the house for the past 30 years although it wasn’t as elaborate as now with the lights.
Mr Marsh who just underwent heart surgery told CNA that he could not climb up the ladder anymore and had to wait for his children to help him put the decorations up.
All in all, it took about one week for the house to be fully decorated.
“It’s part of our tradition to do this. We do it every year. The children and grandchildren like the festive atmosphere. If people ask me to open the gate to look at the decorations, I will welcome them in,” said the pensioner with four children and ten grandchildren.