Posted on 12/18/2013 6:34:21 PM PST by FlJoePa
There really is a Santa, and he’s inhabited a little street in Duboistown for over fifty years.
From late November to the Epiphany in early January, the evening traffic on Euclid Avenue in Duboistown, Pennsylvania, can slow to a crawl. Drivers traveling east or west on the avenue can get caught in bumper-to-bumper lines of vehicles which stretch for blocks, though no one inching along seems to mind at all.
You see, moving at a snail’s pace for a while can be a very small price to pay for the opportunity to cruise up Candy Cane Lane, where visitors young and old can immerse themselves in the spirit of Christmas to their heart’s content.
There are no toy stores or department stores there, no mountains of commercial goodies for sale. What the lane does offer is an unlimited supply of awe and wonder, food for the heart and soul, and it’s free for the taking.
Toy soldiers stand guard on both sides of the street. The five houses on the west side and eight on the east side are decorated heavily with lights and connected to each other by long strands of colored bulbs strung across and over the lane. Special displays, including Santa’s workshop and a Nativity scene, can be seen. Frosty the Snowman and an assortment of elves can be spotted. Even Santa and Mrs. Claus make a number of surprise personal appearances during the season to hand out candy canes and to greet people who come by. Loudspeakers stationed throughout the block add to the magic by filling the air with holiday music.
And while there’s magic to be found there, the magic just doesn’t happen by, well, magic. It’s the end product of years of hard work and dedication by people living in the 200 block of Summer Street, and, as joint ventures go, this one deserves a place in the Neighbor Hall of Fame.
While most neighborhood projects come and go as quickly as dashes to drive- thru windows at fast-food restaurants, the people on Summer Street have managed to sustain their annual project for fifty-six consecutive years. Three of the four living residents instrumental in the creation of the very first Candy Cane Lane still reside on the block—and still decorate.
A Hollywood script might have a Summer Street dweller developing a master plan for the lane and pitching his vision to his humbug neighbors, but that plot line would stray far from the truth. Actually, the birth of what has become Candy Cane Lane occurred at a neighborhood picnic during the summer of 1957.
“Someone said we should get together and do something for Christmas,” said Shirley Fullmer, who attended the gathering. “So, we did. I don’t even remember who made the suggestion. Nobody does.”
Over the years, the lane grew in magnificence and became a must-see place for people who live in Lycoming County. It’s not unusual for area families to make more than one trip to the lane each holiday season just to experience the splendor of it all.
Candy Cane Lane also has its share of admirers who live in far-off parts of the Commonwealth or in other states. For many of them, miles don’t matter because their holiday season wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the lane.
I went to school with a boy named Sandy Claus. I don’t know whatever happened to him, but I hope that we went to live on Candy Cane Lane.
HE went to live...
I knew Candy Cane in high school.
She was a cheerleader.
Her dad was my dentist.
A dentist named his daughter a candy!
That’s great advertising.
:-)
Maybe if he’d had another daughter she’d be named Nova.
Lol!
Or Sugar!
went through there in 1997.
Beautiful and will put the most dour mood into the Christmas Spirit.
Shud up!
LOL!
Lana
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