● 34 Hope St ., warren ●
It ’ s a family affair at Norman Blank ’ s holiday village display with more than 20,000 lights that stretch across two yards along the East Bay Bike Path in Warren . Blank and his family have created stand-up painted wooden figures from vintage holiday films , such as Rudolph , Santa , the Abominable Snowman and Jack Frost , alongside Charlie Brown and Disney characters that stake out the yards . “ My son [ Eddie Beaulieu ] will draw them out and my son-in-law will cut them out ,” Blank says . “ My daughter [ Melissa Cabral ] will paint them , and my son will come back and mark the detail lines , and my other daughter [ Lynn Medeiros ] helps set it up .” A blow mold of Santa ’ s sleigh and his eight reindeer fly between houses , and there ’ s even a countdown to the days , hours and minutes until Christmas . It ’ s a lot of work to assemble the village , but it ’ s worth it for Blank , who is also Warren ’ s fire chief . “ If you ever come here with little kids and you look at them and try to see it through their eyes , you ’ ll understand ,” he says . The setup will be ready Thanksgiving weekend . Park on Main Street or Wood Street in Warren and walk down the bike bath .
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