Annandale homeowner goes big for Christmas

An Annandale Christmas tradition is shining brightly for the 37th year.

Tony Ruth’s front yard, at 3912 Lincolnshire St., has again covered his front yard with 60,000 Christmas lights, 68 large figures, and many more smaller figures, including 30 angels in the angel tree.

Christmas music accompanies the display on speakers and can also be heard on 88.3 FM via a short-range transmitter. Sometimes, Ruth greets visitors with candy canes.

Why go to all that trouble? “I like Christmas,” he says. “It’s my favorite holiday.”

The house draws visitors from all over the area. Ruth said people who bring their children told him their parents brought them by to see the lights a generation ago.

Ruth’s mother started putting up Christmas lights in 1963. After graduating from college and living out of the area, Ruth came back to Annandale and reignited the Christmas decorating tradition in 1988.

Ruth put out the first nativity scene and large figures in 1990. Last year, he added a dragon and a train.

He recently cut back a bit. He doesn’t decorate the backyard or put decorations on the roof anymore. At age 76, he says, “I’m getting too old for this.”

It takes Ruth and his daughter two and a half months to install the decorations. After Christmas, they’ll put everything away in his basement and backyard sheds. The display increases his electric bill by about $100 a month.

But it’s all worth it, he says. “It’s a family tradition. That’s why I’m still doing it.”

If you want to see another house with outrageous holiday decorations, check out 6800 Murray Lane in Sleepy Hollow Woods.

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