It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas on Greenleaf Drive in Hampden, where the snowman that welcomes nightly visitors says it all: “Merry Christmas from Greenleaf Drive.”
The neighborhood sees up to dozens of cars every night and a couple hundred on each weekend driving through the cul-de-sac for a holiday light show that rivals the professionals. Each house does their part: Some houses’ front yards feature Disney princesses and animals; others feature reindeer and snowmen. One house even had “The Grinch” projected onto their garage door for visitors to watch on a recent visit.
If you drive down to Richard Muise’s house, you’ll see a variety of wooden decorations in his front yard, the majority of which were handmade and painted in his workshop. Among his creations are Marvin the Martian and his space canine, Disney’s Phineas and Ferb, and a dog in a sled modeled after his own dog, Nutmeg.
“The street has been doing this for nearly half a century,” Muise said.
When he and his wife moved into the neighborhood seven years ago, the people they bought the house from “were not into decorating,” Muise explained. They decided to change that – and it all began with just a few decorations and some lights.
“Some of my neighbors offered help when we were newbies,” Muise added, putting emphasis on how important this holiday tradition is for the whole Greenleaf community. “We’ve paid that forward by helping a new couple set up a spare Santa on their front lawn. Some neighbors buy candy canes to hand out to the kids who drive by.”
Muise wears a special hat – and a special red suit – nightly to greet visitors who drive through the Greenleaf Drive light displays. “Santa has been on Greenleaf for decades,” Muise explained, adding that “it’s like Batman” – when one Santa ages out, a new one takes over, and Muise has been holding that title with pride.
Visitors who drive through the neighborhood will likely find Muise walking down the street, waving to drivers and their passengers, and even offering a festive “ho, ho, ho.”
“I’m not the typical Santa though,” Muise said. “When I tell (the kids) to be asleep when I get there, I ask what they think they’ll get if I find them awake. They all answer ‘coal’ to which I reply, ‘No, coal is bad for the climate. You’ll get ugly underwear and stinky socks.’ That cracks them up.”
Keeping the holiday magic alive is important for Muise. Before his retirement, he worked a long career as an educator, teaching students at Springfield’s Putnam Vocational Academy.
“Spotting a child I know Is really special. I call them by name and their eyes get really big. I talk about their families and they get bigger,” Muise explained. “One kid screamed out as they drove away, ‘mom, he really knows us!’ I enjoy giving them some good excitement.”
Things ‘really took off’
A few houses down the street, Claudia Kapinos and her husband, Chet, have been keeping the Greenleaf Christmas tradition alive since 1974, when they moved in.
“The street at that time did decorate for Christmas, but certainly not to the extent it is now,” Kapinos said. Things “really took off” during the 1980s and ‘90s, she added. At the time, an artistic neighbor made character cut outs for everyone to place in their front yards – “most are still in our yards,” Kapinos added.
“The story of Greenleaf Drive spread very fast and it wasn’t long before there was an hour-plus wait to come see our lights,” Kapinos said, sharing that many neighbors dress up for the occasion, including her husband as Rocky the Raccoon.
Over time, many of those original neighbors have left, but “the spirit of Greenleaf is still here for all to enjoy this tradition,” Kapinos shared. “Even new neighbors have done great jobs decorating their homes,” she said, adding that many people who move into the neighborhood are already familiar with Greenleaf Drive’s popularity.
Most houses are ready to turn their lights on by the second weekend of December, but “there’s never been any pressure to get things done by a certain date,” Kapinos said.
Lights in the neighborhood go on at dark and are usually kept on until about 10:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to come take a drive through the neighborhood – just keep an eye out for Santa.
“The legendary Greenleaf Drive lives on – hopefully for years to come,” Kapinos said.
