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NEWS
Holiday lets residents be creative
Area residents decorate homes for the holiday season on Friday, Nov. 28, 2008, in Huntington.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- With Thanksgiving in the past, retailers say many area residents have begun their holiday decorating.
For the Heaberlin family, decorating for Christmas is a chance to be creative across generations.
This past weekend, Bill and Debby Heaberlin began transforming their 100-year-old home on Ohio River Road into a kind of Christmas masterpiece with the help of their son and three grandchildren.
"We love Christmas, and both of us are pretty creative individuals. We just enjoy decorating," Bill Heaberlin said.
This year, the family is really getting inventive, he said, because their home is part of the Holiday Candlelight House Tour, an annual fund-raising event put on by the Arts Resources for the Tri-State.
Debby Heaberlin said the family was having a great time decorating on Friday. She and Bill had the help of their son, Mike, and grandchildren Branden, 13, Jarrod, 9, and Julie, 7.
"We've added little things every year," she said.
This year, lots of wreaths, trees and ornaments adorn the house inside and out. The driveway is lined with white trees and lights. Santa even peaks through the roofwalk.
"We have a lot of fun," Bill Heaberlin said of their annual decorating. "Debby is very creative and imaginative. She really has the gift for decorating."
This year, Debby Heaberlin created some themed trees throughout the house, including a wine tree near the home's downstairs bar. More formal areas in the home are decorated in traditional reds and golds, she said.
The Heaberlins aren't the only Tri-Staters lighting up their homes in celebration of the Christmas holiday. Sales of both indoor and outdoor holiday decorations just recently seemed to pick up, according to area businesses.
"Sales are pretty well in line with what they've always been. People are just now starting to do a lot of decorating," said Mike Sexton, vice president of C.M. Love Hardware on 3rd Avenue in Huntington.
Sexton said the store's decorations have been available since October, but sales began to pick up last week. He said artificial trees, ornaments and lighting are most popular. LED lights also seem to be in higher demand this year, he said, as more people learn about their longevity.
LED lights are also popular at Ace Hardware on 5th Street Road in Huntington, according to office manager Missy Ross.
She said the store also offers items like garland, outdoor silhouettes and decorative houses, which she said are a big seller at the store.
Send in your holiday home photos
After you put the finishing touches on your indoor or outdoor Christmas display, snap a photo and send it to The Herald-Dispatch.
The best time to take outdoor photos is before dusk, when there is still enough light out. Submit only two photos per house, please.
We will use the photos in our online photo galleries at www.herald-dispatch.com.
E-mail your photos to news@herald-dispatch.com with your name and address.
