With the pandemic keeping people down, some are taking the time to put up their holiday decorations a bit early this year in the hopes of the spirit of the season brightening people’s day, even if just a bit. NBC New York’s Ray Villeda reports.
Many still have Halloween decorations up, but that isn't stopping others from skipping right over Thanksgiving and diving right into decorating for the holiday season as a way of keeping spirits up during these more dismal days.
And companies behind the displays of holiday cheer say it's the best year they have ever had.
It's barely mid-November, but Rich Johns' teams at Christmas Decor of New Jersey are already working six days a week to set up light displays at homes and businesses. For one of the days last week, Johns said the company had "more calls, and more emails, and more hits through our website than we've ever had."
More and more homeowners want their homes decked in holiday cheer — and lots of it. Municipalities and businesses that are still open are also wanting that festive feel, which Johns thinks is done to keep business morale up amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"To keep the merchants in town and business districts upbeat, because it's been a tough year," he said.
There may be another reason as well. Dr. Sola Togun Butler is a licensed clinical social worker, who works as a therapist and professor in Queens. She says that the holiday lights really can help brighten people's day during this dark time.
"So we can't control a pandemic, but we can control the physical environment," Togun-Butler said. "So putting up lights, putting up the Christmas tree, gifts that make you happy or excited, (it) gives you something to look forward to."
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Or as one homeowner who was putting up their lights on their home in Warren put it, the decorations can extend that holiday spirit just a little longer, so why not put them up sooner.
"It gives a little more Christmas spirit, since everyone is locked up inside the house, school being locked down, (decorating) helps bring up the spirit," said Armindo Rodrigues.
As a painful 2020 comes to an end, the show of lights can serve as a display of hope for a better, brighter holiday season, and a truly happy new year.
