The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1196046
D-16 Christmas Greetings Wednesday, December 25, 2019 The Press-Dispatch Abou Ben Adhem Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight of his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold: Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the Presence in the room he said "What writest though?" e vision raised its head, And with a look made of all sweet accord, Answered "e names of those who loved the Lord." "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so!" Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerly still, and said "I pray for thee, then, Write me as one that loves his fellow men." e angel wrote, and vanished. e next night It came again with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blessed. And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. —James Henry Leigh Hunt LINCOLN A. BAKER, PC Attorney at Law 818 E. Main St. • Petersburg 812-354-8201 By Andy Heuring Ray Bolin and his wife, Pa- mela, have been putting up Christmas decorations since they moved into their house in 1987, near the corner of Jasper and Whitman sts. in Winslow. They started going big in the early 90s and have won nu- merous awards, including the Pike County Chamber of Com- merce top display and the Town of Winslow's contest numerous times. Now their adult children, An- drew and Amanda Hickman, have joined in the fun. The Hickmans live next door and Andrew is a steel fabricator. So, they are now custom build- ing their own displays. "He has been doing this as long as I have known him," said Hickman of his father-in-law. "We have enjoyed it. Abso- lutely love doing this," said Amanda Hickman, who started helping her father as a young girl. "There was a family who used to bring their grandkids by here. If the lights weren't on, they would call Dad and ask him to turn them on," said Amanda. She said one person drove by to see their display and it wasn't on, so they stopped and knocked on the door to ask them to turn it on. When they talk about turn- ing on the lights, they aren't talking about a few hundred or even a couple thousand. It is well in the tens of thousands of lights between the two res- idences that are next to each other. "What is really neat is to see a line of cars coming through here just to see the lights. You know they are enjoying them as much as you do putting them up," said Amanda. "When you are outside, peo- ple will yell and say 'We like your lights,' We don't know them, but it is nice." Ray and Pamela didn't start off with tens of thousands of lights. "It took several years to get this much stuff," said Ray. "We just kept buying more stuff. She would see something and say 'that would look good.' I'd say 'well, buy it.'" "Everything I buy is on sale," said Pamela. Over the years, the display has continued to grow and change. Several years ago, Bolin said they started putting inflatable units in their display. But then he decided to take them out. It is now almost all traditional lights. Andy, who works at Onyett Fabricators, started custom making his displays. "The first one I made was the Merry Christmas from the Hickmans." He said he started on it on Halloween and made two let- ters every night, and then they had to string all the lights on the display that stretches well over 30 feet. "We all had blis- ters on our hands from putting the lights on it," said Amanda. He said they barely got it done by Thanksgiving night. Andy said he creates the de- sign in his garage. He sweeps off the garage floor after he comes up with an idea. Then he tries to draw it on the floor with chalk. If he can't draw it, he has Amanda try it. If she can't, then they go through a sequence of family members drawing it until they get it like they want. Then he starts bend- ing and welding metal rods to- gether. "Amanda's foot gets burned every now and then." One of the displays has a spe- cial meaning. Amanda's sister, Bobbie Jo Cropper, died and they made an angel in her hon- or. "We put that out where Mom and Dad can see it," said Aman- da. Andy said some of the de- signs work out like he plans, but other times they don't. "When I started the Santa, it was supposed to be about six feet tall. It turned out to be 11 before I got done." The Hickmans and Bolins said they do their best to get all the lights put up and on by Thanksgiving night. "Usually we start on Veter- ans' Day getting them out of storage and going over them," said Pamela. "If I can catch a good weath- er day, I get after it," said Bolin. Amanda said she and Andy usually take care of the land behind the Bolins, from the treeline over to their house on Pearl St. Typically, they try to see who can get their displays up first in a friendly competi- tion. "We always need more ex- tension cords," said Ray. He teasingly blamed Amanda for the cord shortage, saying she keeps cutting them up when she is using a string trimmer. "I'll bet if we put all of our extension cords together, they would reach to Petersburg," said Hickman. They have had some mishaps and near mishaps. Ray nearly fell off the roof several years ago. He and his late brother, Don, were working together on the roof. Ray had a rope on him that Don was holding. Ray slipped and eventually almost went over the edge. "I had my legs hanging over the side. He (Don) was supposed to have the rope held tight. He had some slack in it," said a laugh- ing Ray. Amanda and Andy said both of them had been shocked sev- eral times while putting up their lights. The worst mishap for Andy was with a rope and c-clamp. He would put a c-clamp on the rope and throw it over a limb in the tree and pull the lights where he wanted them. But this time when he threw it, he stepped on the rope before it reached its target. The rope jerked back and the c-clamp hit him in the head. "He stumbled around for a few steps, but he kept it together pretty good," said Amanda of her husband. They have fun doing it to- gether as a family. Ray and Pa- mela said they are proud that Andy and Amanda have joined in with their own displays. "I wish everyone in town would decorate for Christmas." She laughingly said they re- cently got a new neighbor and she thought about telling her it was a requirement to decorate for Christmas. The crowds keep driving by to see their displays. "I kept having people tell me to take donations. I would al- Top: Ray and Pamela Bolin's house on Jasper St. in Winslow is illuminated by tens of thousands of lights for Christmas. They have displays on all four sides of their house that extend into the daughter and son-law's yard. Above: Amanda Hickman, Ray Bolin, Pamela Bolin and Andrew Hickman sit around the Bolins' dinning room table and tell Christmas light stories. Merry Christmas During this holiday season, we wish you all the best. LIGHTS & LOVE Bolin and Hickman families brighten the Christmas season with traditional display Continued on page 14