• • • Kiser can ’ t yet say what his display will look like this year . He does , however , know he ’ ll have a full array of carolers and angels — with music playing behind them — on his front porch . Santa and his fleet of reindeer ready to launch into the night sky , will be positioned on the roof .
The porch décor will come first and then he ’ ll work his way out to the road and to the edges of his neighbors ’ driveways .
He ’ ll have his handmade sleigh , nativity scene , blow molds as far as the eye can — and can ’ t — see , positioned just to his liking and according to theme . A few years ago , Kiser added a Christmas Village . “ I started buying up little plastic playhouses and painting them by theme ,” he says , explaining gingerbread men are positioned near the gingerbread house , as are bears , Disney characters , penguins and so on . “ We probably have 12 ( houses ) now . People really love that .” Kiser is all about proportion . “ I don ’ t just throw it out there just to do it ,” he says , explaining he won ’ t come close to using every decoration in his collection . “ Everything has its own place .”
Kiser doesn ’ t allow visitors in the yard due to safety concerns . But they can park at the Exxon station across the street and walk down his driveway for a better look .
They can even drop off a letter to Santa and leave with a candy cane .
Though Kiser ’ s electric bill rises by about $ 400 — it was as much as $ 1,000 before the move to LEDs — in both January and December , he doesn ’ t ask for , nor does he accept , donations .
“ Sometimes people have left money in the box with the letters for Santa ,” he says . “ We always give that to our church .” It ’ s never been about money or even recognition , he says . “ I do it because I love it and I love it for the children ,” he says . “ They ’ re so overwhelmed when they see it . So happy . That ’ s why we do it .”
Though Kiser has been away from his native Wyoming County for 18 years , he says people who visited the lights there now travel to Raleigh County .
“ A woman who went to school with my son said she brought her daughter and now her granddaughter ,” he recalls . “ That ’ s three generations . “ That ’ s special .” But as special as it is , he says he knows it ’ s time to downsize . “ I ’ ll always have something ,” he says . “ I ’ m just going to cut back and be like a normal person ." That , he says , means taking two days to decorate instead of six weeks . “ It ’ s hard though ,” he says . “ I already sometimes get a little teared up thinking about it , but you gotta slow down sometime ."
Before that happens , though , Kiser says he wants to encourage everyone to drive by and enjoy the season .
“ I want everyone to bring their children ,” he says , adding he hopes to create lasting memories for visitors just as his neighbor did for him . “ It ’ s one of these things that can be a lifetime memory for kids , who say , ‘ I remember going by that house .'
“ When I ’ m gone , kids will say , ‘ I remember when that house was the best place ever at Christmas time .’”
• • •
Kiser , who lives just off the Shady Spring exit at 2185 Grandview Road in Beaver , says he expects to light his Christmas display the first weekend in December .
Look for Facebook Live videos as he and his labradoodle Ono , dressed up for Christmas , show off closeups of the displays .
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