If not a white, then surely a colourful Christmas

Even though it costs him a few patches of grass, the joy that Shaun O’Regan’s Christmas lights bring him and his wife, he said, is a small price to pay.

O’Regan has been putting up Christmas lights at his Steiltes home in Skylab Crescent for the past three years, gradually increasing the amount every year.

Besides the splendour of the lights, an added bonus is the fact that you can “wander through this summer wonderland”. He laughingly remarked that they had so many feet going through last year, that a patch of the grass had completely disappeared.

“For the past three years, we have been stuck in Mbombela, so we thought we might as well do something for Christmas.

“My wife and I enjoy seeing the kids’ reactions and I actually hoped that by doing this, we would get other people to do something like it, too.”

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The display even allows for donations this year, but O’Regan does not want this to deter anyone.

“Last year so many people asked, ‘Can’t we donate?’, but I do not want anything from it, so now we have a tin for hospice and one for the SPCA.

“If people want to donate, they may do so, but for me it is more about their enjoying it with their children. I do not want people not coming because they think they have to donate something, it is 100% optional.”

On Monday night they had about 30 families who enjoyed the lights, but he expects many more will come.

“Last year we had about 3 500/4 000 people going through.”

As he has a Russian Orthodox background, the lights will be on display until January 7.

O’Regan has assured people who might worry about the power consumption, that they spend a mere R9 per evening on this marvel.

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