It’s a display that’s hard to miss if you’re passing through Cheryl Dinse’s Sooke neighbourhood.
Eleven reindeer, some on the rooftop. Massive red bows. Christmas trees and presents. Thousands of lights.
“I love lights,” Dinse told Global News. “I find the kids that drive by are excited and it gives me joy to see their faces.”
Dinse has been crafting the display for years, starting with 72 boxes of lights the year her dad died, and adding more every year.
Her son passed away this September, and doing the annual setup has helped her find space from her grief.
“I am finding it very therapeutic to be out here and decorate, it is really taking my mind off sad things,” she said.
For many in the neighbourhood, Dinse’s display is something to look forward to.
“It’s nice to see the house with all the Christmas — it’s Christmas time,” neighbour Pierre Murray said of the elaborate decorations.
Apparently not everyone in the neighbourhood agrees.
Earlier this week, Dinse opened her mail to find a tersely worded note from an anonymous Scrooge criticizing her for her efforts.
“Why don’t you give our neighbourhood a break, haven’t you ever heard that less is more?” the note reads. “Your house is the joke of the neighbourhood. It looks more like Santa’s whorehouse or a Christmas abortion. Tone it down a bit.”
Dinse was shocked.
“(It) put a little bit of scare into me. I wondered what kind of person could do this,” she said.
Dinse posted about the letter on a local social media page, where she said she’s since received an outpouring of support.
She added the nasty note has inspired her to take her display further.
“It’s not going to deter me from doing it more,” she said. “I almost had thought to myself, ‘How many more years am I going to be able to do this, I’m not a spring chicken anymore,’ and then after this letter, I thought, ‘Well I guess I will just keep going.'”
Dinse said her next step might be to add more reindeer.