There was a little more motivation for the Christmas display and Christmas party this year as we received recognition from the City for our window decorations, just think what we would have gotten if they came into the basement.

More structures built with Styrofoam this year, we buy the Styrofoam where they sell insulation, certainly not at a craft store as it would be too expensive there. Once we cut it to shape, we use toothpicks to hold it together, placing a toothpick into one side about a quarter of the way, then moving the part we want to attach on top of this which usually pushed the toothpick halfway on each side. It also conceals the toothpick. Next we take lights and garland and place these around the areas and borders which makes for a light up house which looks pretty good and is very easy to store. The windows are added to the front by using a knife and garland is added to where the Styrofoam was cut. The windows need to be big enough so that you can decorate the inside from the outside.

From the Styrofoam we are able to build some cool structures.

Continue reading “Christmas 1998” →

This year was the biggest display of all as we actually decorated under the steps. We added Styrofoam insulation to the wall where the doorway is to under the steps and painted them to look like bricks by using masking tape and spray painting very lightly so as not to completely dissolve the Styrfoam.

Once underneath the steps we had more Christmas displays, but you could not walk all the way through, you had to turn around at the end because you would come out at the washing machines which really do not invoke the Christmas spirit.

Many more Styrofoam items this year including a ferris wheel.

Continue reading “Christmas Eve 1998” →

For Christmas we setup a display in our front window with an animated life size Santa. This is something we do every year to one extent or another. But this year was special as we added for the first time some icicle lights to the display. We did not really think much more of it, except trying to remember to turn it on at dusk during the holiday season. Someone must have driven by from the city and seen it and they gave us the “City Beautiful Commission Award”.

We were all surprised and enjoyed our little token of fame, even though they spelt the name wrong, it was still a very nice sentiment from city hall.

The letter said they were going to have a run off of all the houses and a winner would be announced in the paper, but since we were never contacted we assumed it wasn’t us that won the overall prize.

When Leslie Brian Landis was born on December 1, 1975, in Nashville, Tennessee, his father, William, was 47 and his mother, Frances, was 27. He had two brothers and two sisters. He died on July 23, 1998, at the age of 22.

Brian is the son of Howard and half brother to Bill and Mary. Brian passed away before James was born. We do not have many pictures of Brian so if anyone can help us out that would be much appreciated.

Mary remembers that Brian loved to play with transformers as a child and he was the ring bearer at Bills wedding. They say the hardest thing in life is when a parent outlives their child, Brian will be missed by his family.

Continue reading “Remembering Brian Landis 1975 – 1998” →