You can’t miss it: Christmas light display brightens Pristine Fields neighborhood
Courtesy of Wally Stadtfeld
More than 1,300 strands of Christmas lights shine brightly along Treetop Drive in Canonsburg, where Wally Stadtfeld and his youngest son decorate their home each year, to the delight of neighbors and the community.
Courtesy of Wally Stadtfeld
It takes Wally Stadtfeld three weeks to deck the house in thousands of Christmas lights, a task he enjoys nearly as much as he loves turning on the display and watching neighbors, friends and strangers delight in the show. Stadtfeld’s love for Christmas decorating was passed down by his mother, Doris, with whom he strung lights every year in childhood.
Courtesy of Wally Stadtfeld
Among Wally Stadtfeld’s collection of Christmas decor is a 12-foot-tall Abominable Snowman, a fuzzy Grinch and a snowman collection.
Shining brightly through long winters nights along Treetop Drive in Canonsburg is a Christmas display that rivals most others.
“I’m up to 1,321 strands of Christmas lights,” laughed Wally Stadtfeld, who started over-the-top decorations more than 55 years ago with his late mother, Doris Stadtfeld, at their Whitehall home. “You know what, I put Chevy Chase to shame.”
Stadtfeld and his youngest son, Brendan, start stringing lights the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when they lug 46 containers of decorations from the attic, map out extension cord placement and begin the heavy lifting. As the boys hang lights with care outside, Stadtfeld’s wife, Linda, lovingly unloads and places 20 boxes of decorations throughout the home’s interior.
“It takes a solid three weeks setting it up,” Stadtfeld said. “A lot of people, artists, they paint. Others have other crafts they’re involved with. I always call myself a light sculptor. I absolutely just love doing it year after year.”
This year, the Treetop Drive display boasts classic pieces, like Stadtfeld’s prized collection of plastic Santas, and new delights, including larger-than-life penguins and a 10-foot-tall Grinch. (“He’s fuzzy,” Stadtfeld marveled.) Each year, folks come from as near as next door and as far as West Virginia to ogle Stadtfeld’s snowman collection, drink in the dazzling lights and admire the scene, often with hot drinks and cookies in hand.
Stadtfeld is proud of his Christmas display – he cherishes childhood memories of lighting up his Whitehall home with Doris – but there are two holiday scenes he loves more than all the others.
“My pride and joy are two things: The fact that I was able to collect all of the Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer characters, being able to add the toys from Misfit Island,” he said, “and then, of course, the plastic Santa Clauses.”
Above all, though, Stadtfeld enjoys sharing Christmas with friends, family and strangers.
“Seeing is believing,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. I’ve enjoyed doing it for years and years and years. It started out with my mom, and that’s a great memory. I’ve just had so much fun gathering this together.
“It’s become such a community thing, now. People come together. The folks that have come by and shared their stories over the years I’ve been doing it, it motivates me to keep doing it. It means something different to everybody. I just absolutely enjoy it so much.”
The Christmas display lights up around 5 p.m. daily (except in the event of rain or sleet) and will continue shining brightly into the new year. Folks are invited to drive by or take photos with the display through the end of the holiday season.