If you drive down Third Street in Presque Isle on any night from Thanksgiving through Christmas, you’ll see a boy sliding down a hill on his sleigh and couples heading to an ice skating party where carolers provide the night’s entertainment.
Actually, they’re not people, but unique decorations, or silhouette lights, that stand in the front yard of Richard and Marilyn Nadeau’s home and have become part of a neighborhood holiday tradition over the past 10 years.
The Nadeaus became inspired to make their home more festive for the season after visiting a friend downstate who took them to see a doctor’s house that was famous for having similar decorations. Every year Richard Nadeau begins setting up the 1,000s of LED lights and silhouettes in mid-October so that the decorations can be lit on Thanksgiving Day. He works 10 to 12 hour shifts for five weekends to put all the silhouettes and lights in their place and create the magical Victorian winter scene for the whole neighborhood to enjoy.
“The traffic usually slows when people get to this section of the street at night. We’ve had a lot of people comment on how they redirect their route every night to come see the lights,” Richard Nadeau said. “I love doing it and it’s nice to give back to the community. We think of the lights as our gift to the city.”
Richard and Marilyn Nadeau have lived in their home on Third Street since 1976. The house is a Victorian-style home that was built in 1903 and has been part of the Presque Isle Historical Society’s City-Wide Historic Tours aboard Molly the Trolley for the last five years. For this reason, Richard Nadeau has always used Victorian silhouettes and sets them up as though they are headed to an ice-skating party.
Some of the figures include a boy on skates pulling his dog in a sled, a girl on skates pulling a baby in a carriage, a young couple skating and a gentleman helping a woman put on her skates. There is also a vendor roasting chestnuts on an open fire while people ride by on a horse-drawn carriage. Statuette carolers “sing” on the front porch while soft Christmas music plays in the front yard.
Every year, Richard Nadeau researches different Victorian silhouettes online and sends his ideas to a friend who owns Thomas Brady and Associated Artists in Maryland, a commercial design company that builds and provides exterior Christmas decorations. He usually adds two or three new figures each year and this year he added one that they knew would be a hit with children: a young Victorian boy sliding down a hill, which measures 40 feet long across the right side of their front yard.
“He has a sled and he moves up the hill. Then he slides down the hill and as he gets to the bottom his hat flies off. Then the movements keep repeating,” Richard Nadeau said, smiling as he talked about one of his favorite new decorations.
As you drive past the Nadeaus’ home, you’ll come to a house at the first corner of Third Street, where gingerbread people, candy canes, ribbon, bows and lights line the white fence. The front porch and a large tree in the yard are covered with Christmas lights that shine brightly throughout the street at night.
Rod and Terry Wood have lived in their home with their youngest daughter Naomi, 12, for three years and have learned quickly that putting up lots of Christmas decorations is a neighborhood tradition. Terry Wood noted that the first year they did not put up as many decorations, but the year after they added more ribbons and lights around the fence. This year is the year that they have put up the most decorations.
“We were inspired by our neighbors, the Nadeaus,” Terry Wood said. “He (Richard Nadeau) came right over this year and said, ‘Are you guys going to put up some lights?’ It’s become a tradition in the neighborhood.”
Like the Nadeaus, the Woods’ home is also part of the Molly the Trolley historic homes tour because it was built in 1860 during the Victorian era. They also have gotten much traffic after Presque Isle’s Holiday Light Parade, during Wintergreen Arts Center’s annual Polar Express rides and on the days leading up to Christmas.
“I think it gets people in the holiday spirit, for sure. What’s nice is that people drive down the street and they can see most of the lights and the children especially enjoy that,” Rod Wood said.
Terry Wood added, “When we’re starting to put up the decorations outside, people will drive by and open their windows and say, ‘It looks good. Thank you for doing this.’ They become part of the tradition by encouraging us and so now we want to do our part for the community.”
(Photos courtesy of Melissa Lizotte)
