End of an era: Prince Albert family announces end to holiday tradition

The tradition has a beautiful back story that goes far beyond just having a well decorated house. Dennis’s wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and the family did not think she was going to make it.

“I carried her outside and we lit the lights and we thought it was our last Christmas,” he recalled.

Fortunately she survived, and Dennis himself in the years since has become a cancer survivor. He explained lights have come to represent a message that as long as they are on, they let others know the couple is healthy.

And on that note, Dennis divulged it was actually his wife who over the years become the mastermind, and he refers to her as his little helper.

“She was the one who actually motivated me to get out and she always said you should try this or you know you should light up the sidewalk. She was actually the motivator to expand it and she’s the artistic one in the house,” he said.

The Adams house is a must stop for every trick or treater. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

The display itself takes days to assemble and when asked if he knew how many fixtures and lights there were, Dennis could not say, noting he has tons of stuff in his garage.

“One thing I always did is went out and bought lights that were on sale, like I have cases of lights that have never been used and so we could probably double or triple the lighting on our house if we really wanted to”, he said with a laugh.

After his wife’s successful battle with cancer, Dennis explained he was further inspired after seeing the Enchanted Forest display in Saskatoon, and he wanted to share that feeling with Prince Albert.

“It was really the interaction of our community to our display that made a special for us like that that’s really been the whole purpose of it,” he said, adding his wishes people in the community could have seen it from their perspective in the house, watching the vehicles stop or the sounds of the children’s excitement.

Santa would be proud. (Facebook/ Dennis Adams)

Among some of the special moments shared in the family’s social media post, was the humbling experience of having their story shared on CTV national news, and also the year of resilience when the decorations were deliberately destroyed (which very seldom happened), and an unscheduled, but determined 11-hour Sunday repair plan had them looking exactly like the day before.

People commenting on the social media post thanked the Adams family for their contribution to the community. One woman noted going to the house was an event she did with her parents, and then later took her own children. Another man noted how he would pick his mother up from Mont St Joseph and at both Halloween and Christmas, it became their tradition to drive past the glowing house on 15th Ave. East.

But as one chapter ends, another oner begins. Family members will be taking some of the decorations, and bringing them to a new creative life at their own homes. And as Adams mentioned, a light display will continue at the house, albeit just in a more subtle way.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

End of an era: Prince Albert family announces end to holiday tradition

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