Heather Horner of Cascade decorated the outside of her family’s home with Christmas lights when she was in seventh grade.
Now 19, Horner says those lights have never been taken down.
“We’re lazy and it’s cold outside,” Horner joked on Wednesday. “(And) they still work.”
Each Christmas, hundreds of Sheboygan residents adorn their homes with outdoor lights to spread joy and holiday cheer throughout their neighborhoods. But some say that kind of Christmas spirit can wear out its welcome.
There are lots of stories about people who leave their outdoor Christmas lights up and on until the warm summer months, but when exactly is the right time to take the lights down?
Pamela Holland, an etiquette expert with BRODY Professional Development and coauthor of “Help! Was That a Career Limiting Move?,” said the protocol for removing Christmas lights is “subject for debate.”
“New Year’s Day is sort of the magical day when many people aren’t working, they have time and down come the lights,” Holland said.
But, there are several reasons to leave Christmas lights up: The 12 days of Christmas goes beyond the first of the year, Russians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, Christmas lights distract people from the bleakness of winter, families of soldiers fighting overseas leave lights up until they return safely and so on.
But that aside, Holland says there’s a limit.
“I really feel, unless you’re in that kind of gray area of knowing, and your neighbors know, you’ve got a loved one who’s due home, that anytime after that first week of January … is a little too much,” Holland said.
When is the right time to pull down the lights? It depends on whom you ask.
City of Sheboygan crews take down the city’s decorations early in the New Year, said David Biebel, interim public works director, because leaving them up in the harsh winter weather could damage the lights.
“Having those decorations up in the cold and the wind, they really take a beating,” Biebel said. “If the weather’s good, we’ll take them down right away. We will cut power to them if we can’t get them down, and then it’s just a matter of systematically getting at them and taking them down between jobs.”
Brandon Meulbroek, 22, of Sheboygan, whose lighting display at 4830 Ferndale Court was a first-place winner in this year’s Outdoor Home Decorating Contest, sponsored by Alliant Energy and The Sheboygan Press, said he’d take down his family’s decorations shortly after New Year’s Day.
“We have too much stuff to leave up for too long, and the electric bill is too high,” Meulbroek said, adding the electric bill goes up about $100 a month because of the lights. “Plus, the season is over and (the lights) have been up since Thanksgiving.”
Several people, when asked, said they didn’t care about how long holiday lights are up, as long as they aren’t too bright.
“Leave them up all year if you want to,” said Jean Uhlarik, 71, of Sheboygan. “But if they’re bright lights and your whole house is decorated, then just don’t turn them on.”
But some do find lengthy lighters offensive.
“It’s annoying,” said Karen Budworth, 30, of Sheboygan. “After New Year’s is when you should take them down. After New Year’s the whole holiday season is over with. It’s time to take them down.”
Laura Klemme, 19, of Plymouth, who was out shopping with Horner on Wednesday, said her own family approaches Christmas decorating much differently than her friend.
“My dad would put (lights) up the day before Christmas and we would take them down right after Christmas,” said Klemme, 19, of Plymouth. “I like that because it didn’t ruin Christmas. You weren’t sitting there going, ‘I’ve seen this for a month. It’s not special.’”
Meanwhile, Horner said her family usually doesn’t turn its Christmas lights on in the summer, and sometimes forgets to illuminate them during the holidays. But as of right now, she said the family doesn’t have any plans to take them down.
“We just don’t care,” Horner said with a laugh.
Most Popular Ever