The streets of EGR light up in many different ways for the holiday season. Rather its inflatables or Christmas lights, there is a wide variety of decorations throughout the community.
There are three popular decorations found in the East; Holiday inflatables, Christmas lights, and luminarias.
Either you love them or hate them but holiday inflatables are everywhere. More and more homes in EGR are choosing to blow up these decorations. Some are more impressive than others and there’s a wide variety too. Classic Peanuts characters like Snoopy and Charlie Brown are popping up in front yards. Along with The Grinch, Christmas Minions, A teddy bear with a dreidel, Rudolph, and of course, Santa Claus. The inflatables are convenient and show an obvious amount of holiday spirit.
Then comes the classic of holiday lights. A statement of holiday decorations. They look simple, but they’re very deceiving. Don’t attempt to set up if you have a fear of heights. Wrapping lights around trees may not be super difficult, but setting them up on the roof becomes nearly impossible. Some families will pay for services to do it for them just to avoid the hassle. The inflatable Santa starts to become way more desirable. If you choose to set up Christmas lights yourself, just know your effort is worth it. The lights always look amazing.
On the interior side, comes the infamous Christmas tree. There are many different options to choose from when it comes to the Christmas tree. Some families like to avoid the mess and buy one fake tree that can be used every single year. There’s no need to water it or sweep up dead pine needles. So financially and cleanliness-wise, the fake tree might be the right decision.
However, if you want to upgrade your holiday devotion, then drive out to Lowell and cut down your tree yourself. This option may be more messy and exhausting, but super self-empowering. Bragging to all of your friends that you cut down your tree, from an actual Christmas tree farm, proves you’re the most devoted to the holiday season.
The third option for obtaining a tree is buying it from Gerken Plaza. Can’t go wrong here. The trees are all in great quality and each purchase supports EGRHS team boosters. The trees are authentic, giving you the pride of a real tree without the hassle of cutting it down yourself. All of the money raised goes to support sports teams at the high school and is very beneficial.
The final impressive decorations for the holidays are the Luminaries on all of the “Wood” streets in East Grand Rapids. Oakwood, Elmwood, Ridgewood, Maplewood, Edgewood, and Beechwood decorate their driveways with the Luminaries. Luminaries are little paper bags with candles in them that go along their driveway. They light up the street and make for amazing scenery at night time.
The holiday spirit isn’t only measured in decorations. It means way more than that. However, it’s always great to see all of the different ways the EGR community chooses to show their spirit with decorations.
