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<p>HANOVER TWP. &#8212; Paul Halesey, 53, has lived on the corner of Downing Street and Steve Street for more 15 years and he&#8217;s decorated his home for more than 15 holidays. The Hanover Township native and supervisor at CVS Caremark used to decorate his yard with inflatable holiday characters and cover his bushes and shrubs with lights, but when he had trees planted and altered the yard with landscaping, his plan of decorative attack changed.</p><p>Now Halesey drapes his trees and home in seasonal red and white, creating a simple yet refined holiday atmosphere for visitors and drivers-by.</p><p>&#8220;We all put our lights up really early on the block, right before Thanksgiving; sometimes two weeks before Thanksgiving,&#8221; Halesey said. &#8220;My sister lives close to me, so it&#8217;s like a little competition that we have going on. Everybody wants to get their lights up before anyone else.&#8221;</p><p>Each tree in Halesey&#8217;s yard is covered with lights that wrap around their trunks, illuminating them on the otherwise dark corner of the block. He said he doesn&#8217;t plan on adding much to his holiday display in future years; if anything, he&#8217;ll add more lights to his trees. While they may be the defining feature of Halesey&#8217;s lights &#8212; and the aspect he looks to improve on in future iterations &#8212; he described the trees as the most troublesome part of his festive outdoor decor.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s always the trees,&#8221; Halesey said. &#8220;Only because once I get the lights on, 50 of them will go out and leave a gap. This year we&#8217;re lucky because it has been pretty nice, so if that happens it&#8217;s easy to get out there and fix them.&#8221;</p><p>The terms Halesey used to describe his decorating process were in the singular; according to his 17-year-old daughter, Michaela, that&#8217;s accurate.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m an observer. My dad won&#8217;t let us touch it,&#8221; Michaela said. &#8220;Granted, I&#8217;ve never asked to help either.&#8221;</p><p>Michaela said she&#8217;s happy her father takes time to set up the display every year. She loves seeing how the lights look from the street and thinks the celebratory display around her home is a special part of the year that helps signify the holidays for her family.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a part of Christmas,&#8221; Michaela said. &#8220;I&#8217;m used to it. They&#8217;re always special and nice.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Paul Halesey stands on the porch of his home in Hanover Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_HolidayHome1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Paul Halesey stands on the porch of his home in Hanover Township. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_HolidayHome2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hanover Township resident Paul Halesey uses the trees in his yard when decorating for the holidays. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_HolidayHome2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hanover Township resident Paul Halesey uses the trees in his yard when decorating for the holidays. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Hanover Twp. home works trees into holiday display</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Hanover Township resident Paul Halesey works landscaping into holiday light display