By: Brittany Smith

Christmas is exciting, especially when you get to drive around and look at the Christmas lights. This time of year, people set up all kinds of different festive lights and have different styles to decorate their house. Some people put up classic white lights, others enjoy a pop of colors, and some make themselves a whole display outside their house.

When considering houses with holiday spirit in our area, one specific house in Russell comes to mind. Luckily, The Squire got the scoop on the most decorated house in Russell, located on Cider Mill Hill.

Darren Glotz, a junior at Eisenhower, lives in this house. His family goes all out with their decorations each year, showing everyone their impressive house decorating skills. Darren and his family only use colored lights instead of white, so you can see their house from far way. They start decorating at the beginning of November and finish on Thanksgiving Day.

The Squire asked him some questions about how Darren embellishes his house for Christmas. Darren enjoys a lot about decorating his house, sharing, “It’s exciting and demonstrates creativity because everyone does theirs different.” He told The Squire, “My grandfather started the lights 40 years ago. My dad took it over after my grandfather passed away and has been doing it ever since.”

The Squire wanted to know what decorating traditions Darren and his family try to follow each year, and he shared, “We usually all get involved in the decoration as a kind of bonding experience.” Darren has great advice for anyone who may be looking to be more festive with their house decorating, “Be creative because it is your display, so make it how you want.”

Darren’s yard is full of lights and figurines. Some of the things there even sing Christmas music. It’s spread out around his yard and you can see it from miles away.

If you don’t want to go all out like the Glotz family, you could always put up a few lights to show your holiday spirit or include something simple like a Santa Claus on the roof. Have fun decorating this year and be as creative as you can be. Merry Christmas!