Some light entertainment
By Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
Alan and Terrie Wagner have big balls. To be fair, those balls are size appropriate for a tree that lives under the flagship decorated conifer, towering high above the street sign at the corner of Stevens Street and Gleneden Beach Loop, where the couple transform their property into a winter wonderland every Christmas.
“I’m a Christmas nut,” Terrie said. “Alan just goes along with it because he’s that kind of guy,”
The property, purchased by Terrie’s grandparents in 1969, was the site of the former Sea Lark Motel, which closed in the 1950s.
When the couple moved from Portland in 2008, they added large outdoor play structures for the growing brood that visits for holidays, currently comprising five kids, 10 grandkids, five great-grandkids, two nephews and two great nephews.
“We bring our crazy with us whoever we go,” Terrie said. “When you have water balloon fights, you need a place to run.”
If you see a gate open on Stevens Street, that is an invitation to peek into the windows at the massive train town, inside of the home and to take advantage of the interactive elements in the yard.
“I will have props for people to do selfies,” Terrie said. “We don’t ask for anything, but food donations are appreciated. Last year we collected three or four totes full of food for the food bank.”
Because not all of the family can make it out for Christmas Day, the decorations will remain up until the first weekend in January. Though Terrie holds firm that Christmas decorations should not be put up until after Thanksgiving, they can’t wait long to begin the property’s transformation.
“We were late one year and people kept coming by asking when the tree was going up,” she said.
It takes 35 to 37 totes to store the decorations, a number that continues to grow, and takes the couple roughly three and a half weeks to get all of the decorating finished.
“This year the weather really worked for us,” Terrie said. “It will take about a week to take it all back down. If the weather doesn’t work for us then, we will have to dry everything before putting it away. Last year the garage looked like blow-up decoration central.”
The lights usually get turned off by 10 pm.
“The lights are mostly for us and our family,” Terrie said. “But we are glad to be able to share them with the community.”