Thirty years ago on Dec. 30, we moved to Pecan Grove. We were surprised by all the homes that were decorated. We told our 3-year-old son the lights were there to welcome us to the neighborhood.
The folks in Pecan Grove are still welcoming people to their neck of the woods.
If you haven’t driven through Pecan Grove in the last couple of weeks, load up the car with blankets and be prepared for an even more incredible show this year.
I’m not sure if it’s the aftermath from the isolation of Covid, but people are embracing life and celebrating even more this year. This is quite obvious in Pecan Grove.
You’ll find a light extravaganza on almost every street. If the children are hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa, they’ll not only find his likeness in people’s yards, they just might see Santa himself waving at them from a front yard.
We watched children’s faces peering out from car windows, their eyes reflecting the lights, wonder written on their faces. Some streets have carolers while others gently play Christmas music for visitors to enjoy.
That Christmas spirit is infectious. Visitors weren’t honking their horns at each other – they were polite, patient and understanding as cars drove slowly down the streets, marveling at the incredible display in this neighborhood.
The people who live in Pecan Grove understand they’re a tourist destination in December, and they handle the traffic congestion and noise with a generous heart. Not only do the people in Pecan Grove provide free entertainment for us, what they do behind the scenes is even more amazing.
For the past few Christmas seasons, neighbors in Pecan Grove have been helping people in need. Someone will post to a Pecan Grove Facebook page about a family needing food, clothes, furniture, toys, and a committee gathers the right people to help out.
Often times someone writes they’ve been out of work, having trouble paying the electric bill or they can’t afford gifts for their children.
Santa’s elves get to work and the wish list is completed. This generosity is not surprising as the people in Pecan Grove give back anonymously in ways we don’t think about.
Nobody else pays their electric bill. Nobody else scours the internet and stores for that just-right front-yard decoration.
Nobody else spends hours stringing lights from trees, replacing burnt-out bulbs or making sure the wooden cut-outs are placed in just the right spot.
Nowhere else will you find a yard completely decorated to reflect a family’s love for the LSU Tigers, Texas A&M or the University of Texas. You’ll have to look far to find a house whose lights are choreographed to flash and change with music on a particular radio channel.
You’ll also be hard pressed to find a cul-de-sac with a dozen trees decorated from top to bottom with a different theme on each tree. Love the Astros and the Dallas Cowboys? Those trees are there.
Take a drive through the neighborhood but be respectful of the people who live there. Don’t come past 10 p.m., stay in your vehicle and don’t stop in the middle of the road.
The Grinch and Scrooge learned the true meaning of Christmas. I’d say the folks in Pecan Grove figured that truth out a long time ago.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.