Brandon home lit up for furry friends

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This article was published 08/12/2023 (1061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon couple might be giving Clark Griswold some serious competition with the holiday decorations adorning their 22nd Street home. The couple hope the bright lights will bring in donations for Paws Crossed Animal Shelter and Adoption Centre.

Clark Griswold, a well-known character from the classic 1989 holiday movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” spent much of the movie stapling strings of lights all over his house. When he finally gets them working properly, it causes a brief Chicago-wide blackout.

Brandon’s own Patrick Stewart, a self-proclaimed lover of cats (even though he is allergic to them), has pulled a Griswold move himself and loaded up his house with what he estimates is about 20,000 twinkling Christmas lights.

“We started putting lights up probably about five years ago and it just kind of progressed each year,” Stewart said. “The last couple of years we went a little crazy and it turned out to be kind of an attraction. We ended up drawing a crowd every night.”

This year the couple added a new element to the display — collecting donations for local animal rescues.

“It’s something we’re also very passionate about and we put the two together this year to see what kind of a crowd we can get and maybe get some funds for the rescues.”

Amanda said this all started when her husband found a grey kitten at his work and he was done for. Patrick, on the other hand, says it was Amanda’s idea.

“I was actually deathly allergic to cats my whole life, so I had nothing to do with them,” Patrick said. “Finally, we found medication that worked for me and my wife always wanted (a cat), so yeah, that’s where it all started out.

“Now it’s just getting out of control,” he laughed.

The Stewarts call the light display “Whisker Wonderland.” They will be collecting donations until the end of December and have the lights on until the end of January. Passersby will be delighted with the house lights, the 11 inflatables and towering trees with sparkling lights. The lights are on display from 5 to 10 p.m., Sunday to Thursday, and 5 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. They will be collecting donations of food, supplies and cash for Paws Crossed.

Paws Crossed, located three-and-a-half kilometers west of Brandon on Highway 1, is an entirely volunteer-run organization, which rescues animals from the city pound that haven’t been claimed. Paws Crossed assistant manager Brittany Bergwell said they have rescued so many animals they currently have an intake freeze, where they can’t accept anymore animals.

“We are very, very grateful to be chosen this year as (the Stewarts’) charity of choice. We currently have a lot of expenses coming down the pipe — our winter heating, as well as we have an upcoming transport and we have a very, very large vet bill that we need to pay down,” said Bergwall.

Bergwall said the shelter needs cat and dog food, both wet and dry, as well as monetary donations to help pay down their $10,000 vet bill. Paws Crossed currently has 77 cats and kittens and nine dogs up for adoption. She said their highest need in supplies is “sensitive stomach” dog food and dry and wet kitten food. She said they are also looking for donations so they can transfer 30 of their cats to the Heart and Soul Dog and Cat Society in B.C.

“They are one of the larger rescues in the mainland of B.C. Their mandate is specifically to take animals from Manitoba because our problem is so large … and adopting them out over on the West Coast,” Bergwall said.

The Stewarts are set up to take all sorts of donations — from big bags of food, pet beds and boxes of litter to cash or cheques. Patrick even made a lighted mailbox for cash donations, which is surrounded by dog and cat inflatables and an animatronic Santa Claus, who will sing and dance if you donate. Find their house in the 500 block of 22nd Street. You won’t miss it!

» khenderson@brandonsun.com