VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - It's the holiday house you cannot miss! The home, lawn, trees and bushes are covered in lights---about 425 thousand of them. There are countless holiday characters covering nearly every inch of the yard.
Rick Bruner brought his six-year-old daughter, "It's my first time here. ...this is something! This is something!"
It takes about four weeks for Jim and Bonnie Anderson of Virginia Beach to get it all set up in their neighborhood off Brockie Street and they regularly add more decorations. Jim admits it's a lot of work. "It is, but I always look at it for the kids' point of view. I mean, you get so much joy out of looking at the expressions on their faces when they come by; to me it's amazing!"
The Andersons have been dazzling this community for about 16 years. Folks like Melissa Foster are so grateful, "It's the house we have to come to every Christmas; we've been doing it since our twins were two." They are now 10 and it never gets old.
Now this year it was a lot easier to enjoy their home, because last year a part of Lynnhaven Parkway, which connects to their street, was blocked off due of a construction project.
Bonnie says last year it was a mess, "Oh it wasn't a good year---wasn't a good year at all!" Jim says some people were getting a little testy, "And actually people were getting upset a little bit cause you could only come in one way, so everybody was getting in driveways trying to back up; trying to get out of here it was chaos."
But this year, you can easily access their home on Brockie Street from Lynnhaven Parkway, which is good, not just to check out the lights---but because the Andersons are once again taking action and accepting donations to the Foodbank. And there was a steady stream of people doing just that.
And because of that, we once again we presented the Andersons with a News 3 People Taking Action award, along with a $300 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank. The Andersons were very thankful, with Bonnie pledging, " That's going to help the Foodbank....definitely that's going to the Foodbank!"
Another year of taking action and getting results for folks in need----and along the way, spreading a lot of holiday cheer. Jim says it's joy to do this year after year, "The parents come by with their little kids and they're happy--it's Christmas. I mean that's what it's all about. It's seeing the expressions on these little kids' faces, that just makes everything just right. "
