Christmas is drawing near, and for one Thames couple that means it’s time to decorate.
Jubin Jose and his wife, Neyoni Job, have been decorating their Banks St home with Christmas-themed lights and decorations for the past half a decade. Every year their display grows bigger, with new lights and features added to delight the residents of Thames.
“We just did a little [display] five years back, and the amount of people that came to see it was just astonishing,” Jubin said.
“We’re trying to add more every year. The kids, they love it. So we thought, you know, we’ll just keep going.”
The idea was inspired by areas in Hamilton and Auckland where whole streets put up lights at Christmas time.
“It’s for the kids and the people in the community… there’s not much in Thames,” he said.
“I couldn’t quite agree [five years ago]… it was quite a lot of money and effort to set up,” Neyoni added.
“I thought it would be a waste of time. But when everything’s up, and people start watching… It’s so, so good.”
This year, Jubin has added Santa’s sleigh to the display. Visitors are encouraged to wander around in the front garden and get their photos taken in the sleigh, he said.
“We started building the sleigh four months back,” he said.
“One of my friends is an artist. He drew the lines on the plywood and I made the [light] pattern.”
The other lights in the garden were installed with the help of Jubin’s electrician brother.
“Most of the lights we bring back from India where my hometown is, because it’s way cheaper than here,” he said.
“We turned them on from the last weekend of November… it took some time and effort for us to do them all.”
But the feedback from the community has been worth it.
“They’re saying they’ve never seen anything like this, it’s amazing, thank you for doing this every year. And even people bring me flowers,” Jubin said.
DETAILS: The light display runs from approximately 8.30-11.30pm each night on Banks St.
