Each year, local neighborhoods come together to show the kind of holiday festivity that shines — literally. Greensboro’s Sunset Hills and Aycock districts join Jamestown’s 
Jamesford Meadows in dazzling annual light and luminary displays that draw multitudes of onlookers. But the stories of how these traditions come together are just as striking as the results. Neighbors reach out to one another, giving their time, energy, and money to create a gift the whole community can enjoy. Their work is more of a joy than a chore. In fact, the preparation is like one big party. And there’s a lesson in there for us all — one that embodies the spirit of the season.

A Festival of Lights in Sunset Hills
In the beginning, there were grapes. Three little ugly ones, according to Jonathan Smith. Back in 1995, his daughter Alison’s idea to hang balls of light fashioned from chicken wire from the trees in front of their Sunset Hills home resulted in an underwhelming display.

Right before Alison’s winter break from college, she spotted small, 5-inch balls of light adorning a tree in Raleigh. A fan of the idea, Jonathan gave the decoration a try, turning things up a notch. “He decided to mega-size them,” Alison says. “He likes to make things dramatic. He doesn’t do anything in small quantities, and we just went to town with it.”

At the time, Jonathan and Alison were impressed with their 15-inch globes. Now, Jonathan chuckles at the memory. “They weren’t spread out or very big,” he recalls. “They all hung together from the lowest bough of our smallest oak tree and looked like the last three grapes of a bunch.”

But a funny thing happened that first Christmas: A passing car stopped to take a look. Intrigued, Jonathan and Alison added another homely ball of light. A second car stopped, and the Smiths added another. “Pretty soon, we got the idea to spread them out a little, and we figured out how to put them up a little higher,” Jonathan says.

The decorating has evolved quite a bit since then. Today, a virtual galaxy of lights hangs from nearly every one of Sunset Hills’ gargantuan trees, and many households attend the Smith’s annual assembly party, where Jonathan supplies materials and shows his friends how to make these glowing decorations. Last year, a few people got more creative with their designs, forming the chicken wire into candy canes, footballs, and other shapes.

Now married and living in Arkansas, Alison says that when she comes home for the holidays, she can’t help but giggle when she sees the lights. “I roll down all the windows and open up the sunroof,” she says, “and we circle the block before we pull into mom and dad’s driveway.”

Jonathan says he simply likes the perception the lights create after dark. “Some of the homes here are separated by fences and driveways,” he explains. “But once the sun goes down and the lighted balls are in the trees, it looks like one large solar system. You don’t see the things that divide the neighbors. We’re all together under the canopy of lights.”

Yuletide Unity in Aycock
On a certain afternoon in early December, drivers passing through the Aycock neighborhood may spot a group gathered at Sternberger Park. It’s no secret Aycock residents have been on the neighborhood’s e-mail discussion list, exchanging all sorts of information about one neighbor’s surplus of sheetrock and another neighbor’s famous pre-Christmas Bloody Mary party. They also know that this is when they get their luminary supplies.

“Within a couple of hours, everyone is supposed to pick up their materials,” says Laura Wall, the neighborhood’s beautification chairperson. “Then, we’ll set them up in front of our homes and fill in those gaps where we don’t have consistent luminaries on the blocks. We also do the perimeter of Aycock Middle School. The whole neighborhood is lit.”

This year, Aycock will present its display December 9, and, especially when combined with neighborhood 
carolers, the show is well-worth a look. Last holiday season, residents of all 450 houses set out luminaries and created a magical display that properly represented the solidarity of a diverse community. 

“I feel like I know every single person in the neighborhood,” Laura says. “It’s very transitional. Some homes have been restored and others need to be, but there’s a lot of great energy and talented and creative people here.”

Aycock’s festivities don’t stop there. Two years ago, a new family moved in and expanded the district’s seasonal involvement to more than one short night. When residents met Justin Smith and his wife, Millie, they learned that Justin grew up in Sunset Hills, and that his family — the Smiths — were the ones responsible for the now-legendary balls of light. “Almost everyone said they drove through [Sunset Hills] every Christmas and were tickled to death that we moved in and could teach them how to do it,” Justin recalls.

Naturally, word spread quickly by e-mail, and a party was planned. “We provided the lights and set up six or seven tables in our backyard for folks to assemble on,” Justin says. All told, about 50 people filtered in and out of the Smith’s yard that evening, resulting in about 100 new light balls.

At the end of the day, Justin demonstrated how to place the balls in the trees, which is easier than it seems if you use a potato gun or baseball to launch the cords over branches. Justin says he was impressed by his new neighbors’ first effort and is encouraged about this holiday season, because a community that joins together so well for its luminary display can only flourish with another festive purpose.

Nativity Night in Jamesford Meadows
For a split second, Jody Susong forgot who she was. She was standing on her lawn last December when a mother brought her young son up and pointed directly at Jody. “I thought, ‘Who are these people?’ ” she says, laughing. “ ‘I should know who they are.’ ”

When the boy said, “That’s Mary, Jesus’ mother,” it all came back. Jody was indeed playing the part of Mary in her family’s annual live Nativity scene. In her arms was a doll representing baby Jesus, to the left were three miniature donkeys and goat trucked in from her sister’s farm, behind her was a weather-beaten stable she and her husband, Doug, had salvaged from their church, and Doug, incidentally, was dressed as Joseph.

When the Susongs moved to Jamesford Meadows in 2001, the neighborhood had already been putting on an annual luminary display for nearly a decade. With about 285 homes and a large lake to surround with luminaries, the neighborhood’s project is a huge undertaking requiring 30 to 40 volunteers and two chairpersons.

“It’s two days of work to set up,” says Mary Bannon, who has been a chairwoman for three years running. “The Saturday before, we have kit-assembly day. Harris Teeter donates grocery bags. For each property, into that bag goes the number of kits they need. Then we have volunteers who deliver the bags door-to-door.”

Mary says the most challenging part is covering the lake and the long entry into the neighborhood, but the result is well-worth the effort. This year, the event will be held December 9. Those who slowly cruise through Jamesford Meadows turn their car lights off and are dazzled by the flickering effect of about 9,000 luminaries.

The next neighborhood over brings a hayride full of people to see the display. A local nursing home brings a busload of its residents every year. And always, there is a bit of a bottleneck at the Susong’s place. People like to get out of their cars and take a closer look at the characters, and many just want to pet the donkeys.

“My sister puts Santa Claus hats on them,” Jody says of the four-legged show stealers. “It’s not very representative of the Nativity, but the kids love it. It’s really cute.”

Jody notes that last year traffic backed up and they considered limiting the number of cars passing through. But for a Nativity scene in which the three wise men wear Burger King crowns spray-painted gold, directing traffic flow would seem much too formal.

Instead, the Susongs say they would rather let things be and allow everyone to enjoy themselves — and hopefully also gain a greater appreciation for the Nativity characters. That’s the simple reason Jody wanted a live Nativity in the first place. But like so many other community traditions that share the holiday spirit, this display of joy has become larger and more popular than she ever imagined. 

NOTE: At press time, the city was considering a ban on open fires due to extreme drought conditions. This ban would force communities to cancel their luminary displays.
Regardless, other festivities will proceed as planned.

• Chris Gigley lives in College Hill, where he and his family hope to kick-start a new seasonal decorating tradition. Now if he could just untangle his strands of lights.