Just like Santa Claus and mistletoe, Buster and Marie Lyon are part of our neighborhood’s Christmas tradition. For more than 20 years, they have decked their home at 6244 E. Lovers to the hilt for the holidays, sharing their spirit with flocks of visitors who travel from throughout the Metroplex to oooh and aaah at their yard.
The Lyons have collected more than 150 animated snowmen, Santas, reindeer and elves with which to decorate, and they add a few new figures each year.
“When I was a little kid, I loved Christmas, and I still do,” says 80-year-old Buster. “Wherever we go, people know us. They tell me: I’ve been bringing my kids to your house since they were 2. Now they’re 14, and they’ve got to see your house every year.”
What’s even more remarkable than the Lyons’ display is that they take it down every night around 11:30 p.m. and re-construct it the next day about 3:30 p.m.
“If I didn’t, the thieves would steal these animated things,” Buster says.
Buster pays some employees of his Ross Avenue auto shop to help him tow everything in and out of his house from Dec. 17, the first day of the display, to Dec. 25, the last day. The display is lit at 6:30 p.m. nightly if there is no rain.
Some of the animated pieces in the Lyons’ display cost hundreds of dollars. The 8-foot-tall snowman, the first piece Buster bought in 1972, cost $400, he says.
In addition to the snowman and the blinking lights, the Lyons provide entertainment, including clowns on Dec. 20, carols by the singing group Glory on Dec. 21 and a live Santa on Dec. 22.
Glory began performing for the Lyons 17 years ago when the 12 members were teenagers. Now grown, married and scattered about Texas, the singers reunite each year for the holiday show.
Buster also gives Santa lollipops to all the children who visit, and he and his wife give friends tours of the inside of their home, which is decorated just as extravagantly as the outside.
Buster says he and has 77-year-old wife enjoy meeting new people and will continue their annual Christmas display as long as health allows them to.
“The good Lord let me make a little money, and I’m trying to make people happy with it,” Buster says.
Exercise Your Lungs During the White Rock Marathon
Residents can exercise their lungs and their taste buds during the annual White Rock Marathon Dec. 8.
Runners will take off at 8 a.m. at City Hall and travel 26 miles through Oak Lawn and Highland Park, along Mockingbird, around White Rock Lake, through Lakewood and back Downtown.
Marathon proceeds benefit For the Love of the Lake, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the lake and its park area. This group is encouraging residents to come out and cheer, applaud and even beat drums in support of the runners as they pass. The group’s Fall newsletter reads:
“New York has two million people who line the streets for the entire route of their marathon, people of every size, shape, age, and ethnic background…We would like to bring that kind of energy and enthusiasm to the Dallas White Rock Marathon.”
Neighborhood Mexican food restaurant Martin’s Cocina is the official food sponsor of the marathon. Owner Martin Zisman says he will serve a 1,000-foot-long enchilada to runners at the end of the race, which doubles his previous record set 12 years ago in Colorado when he made a 458-foot enchilada to raise money for blind skiers.
Residents who want to help make the enchilada should meet at 8 a.m. at the Dallas Convention Center, 650 S. Griffin.
Race packets are available through Dec. 6 at Luke’s, 3607 Oak Lawn. Call 214-622-7283,
News & Notes
DART
DART Tests Light Rail Along Central: Dallas Area Rapid Transit is testing its North Central Light Rail extension from Yale to Park Lane from now until this portion of the line opens for service Jan. 10. DART officials says the light rail vehicles will operate at various times 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Crossing gates and warning signals where the tracks intersect with streets and alleys should be observed, they advise. Trains will be tested at speeds up to 45 mph. Call 214-749-2543 with questions or comments.
Residents Address Light Rail Concerns: Some neighbors along DART’s Northeast Corridor, the light rail line that runs from Downtown to Garland, have formed a coalition to address residential concerns about the train. According to member Jill Shipman, the group’s purpose is to preserve the identity, integrity and property values of neighborhoods affected by light rail projects and to act as a liaison between governmental agencies overseeing DART projects and these neighborhoods. Call 972-480-5333 for information.
BUSINESS
Recent College Graduate Starts Chiropractic Clinic: Lakewood resident Kristi M. Larsen, 24, has opened Park Cities Chiropractic, 6803 Hillcrest, where she is the sole proprietor. Larsen graduated cum laude this summer with a doctorate degree from Dallas’ Parker College of Chiropractic, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree in human anatomy. She is also a graduate of Bishop Lynch High School and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School. Larsen says she feels fortunate to open a practice right out of college. “You have a mindset and stick with it,” she says. “Nothing got in my way. I thank God it all worked out.”
Deep Ellum Vintage Furniture Store Opens: CitiModern, a vintage furnishings and accessories store, recently opened at 2928 Main. Barry Gream of Atomic Age Furnishings, Diane Hileman of Relive Nostalgia and Scott Haws of Red Square joined to open the 5,000-square-foot business, which sells items primarily from the 1940s through the 1960s. Gream and Hileman also created the 1950s room at Lula B’s Antique Mall on Lower Greenville.
Entrepreneur Guides Travelers: Munger Place resident Romney Parsons Vinson recently established Travel Research & Custom Itineraries L.L.C. to assist customers with travel planning. Using travel magazines, guidebooks, the Internet and other sources, Vinson finds the information needed to answer travel questions and customize itineraries. Vinson charges an hourly fee and doesn’t receive commissions from travel providers.
