Careys help create the magic of Christmas

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This article was published 19/12/2023 (1050 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’ve driven down Princess Avenue lately, you probably stopped to feast your eyes on the Carey family’s delightful outdoor Christmas display.

Tara and Jeff Carey, along with their teenagers Morgan and Emerson, busily got to work well before the snow to plan out, construct and tweak what they call Candy Cane Lane in their front yard. The yard features a ramp lit up with bright red and green candy canes running down both sides — the ramp was hand made by Jeff — as well as a family of reindeer, two big snowmen, Santa Claus, a singing mailbox, a North Pole sight, a holiday archway, lots of lights and a very big lighted wooden ornament sitting in the front.

“We do love Christmas,” Tara Carey said. “A few years ago, I worked at a salon on Brandon Avenue, and I had a customer come in and she said to me, ‘My daughter can’t hear Christmas. So, I want her to be able to see it.’ Her daughter is deaf. And ever since then I loved all the (Christmas decorations) because it just reminds me of her, and I just think that is so true. They can’t hear it. So, they need to see the magic of Christmas.”

Tara admits this is the biggest their Christmas display has gotten so far. They had steadily been building it up over the years, but this year she said they decided to really go big. The display is now attracting a string of cars and onlookers as soon as the sun starts to go down.

“We have had quite a few cars stopping. We have actually had a couple people come up and ask if they can come and get some pictures underneath the arch. And I am like, ‘Absolutely!’ I had another family come and ask, ‘Can my kids walk down your lane?’ ‘Absolutely!’ It’s pretty cool,” she said.

Carey’s younger children, seven-year-old Chase and five-year-old Kinslee, helped pick out some of the decorations and love to help with the daily operation of the display.

“They love it. Obviously, Christmas is one of my favourite holidays. So, they kind of have inherited that love for Christmas. They love walking down the Candy Cane Lane. And we have a singing mailbox outside — it’s (Kinslee’s) job to turn it on every day,” Tara said, adding her two teens are also enjoying the display. “Even our 17-year-old, she goes out the side door and walks up the porch and goes down Candy Cane Lane every single day to go to catch the bus. They love it. Of course, there are always some glitches. And so, they get off the bus and they fix up our snowman or put stuff up where it should be.”

The biggest contributor, Tara said, was her husband Jeff, who despite undergoing dialysis multiple times a week while he waits for a kidney transplant, has made Candy Cane Lane — which could double as a wheelchair ramp — and the big wooden ornament. Tara said Jeff hunted around for wood pallets he could use to build his holiday creations and mount the decorations on them, so they wouldn’t freeze to the ground.

“(Jeff) does not have very much free time. He receives dialysis treatment three times a week and then works full-time. So yes, in between all his things he has managed to put everything together and make a good front yard for everybody to look at,” Tara said.

The Careys are quite happy with their Christmas display now, but Tara said there is always room for more decorations.

“My husband is already planning out what he wants to do next year, so we will keep adding to it a bit more. We may have to get some new deer because our one has seen better days, but yes, we do have some plans next year. Jeff wants to put lights all around like the eavestroughs of the house. And he would really like to have a Santa on top of the house,” she said.

» khenderson@brandonsun.com