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Dallas holiday house features a cute contingent of snowy creatures

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N.A.A.C.P. gives time and donation to St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen

<p>When Peter Parente was 4 years old, his mom caught him on the roof helping his father put up Christmas lights. Since then, it&#8217;s been Parente&#8217;s job to make Christmas come to life.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a year-around project,&#8221; Parente said. &#8220;It never stops and I&#8217;m already thinking about ideas for next year.&#8221;</p><p>Parente&#8217;s thoughts are common in the Greater Pittston area &#8212; one can see the holiday spirit alive and well on a quick trip up and down streets from West Wyoming to Duryea. There, passersby will find blow-up Santas, reindeer parked on roof peaks, along with lights that can be seen for miles.</p><p>The house on Sterling Street in Pittston Township belongs to Parente&#8217;s parents, Sam and Jean. Since Peter could remember, he has been decking out his parents&#8217; home with Christmas decorations. This year, he said, there are between 25,000 and 30,000 lights. But it&#8217;s not just the lights that catch the holiday spirit.</p><p>Passersby can tune their radio to 90.3 FM and see the house come to life with lights programmed to different Christmas songs. According to Peter, for every minute of a song, there is about 15 hours of programming involved. He started hanging decorations Nov. 1 and worked on it every day through Thanksgiving.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a lot of time and a lot of money,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Peter&#8217;s decorations include everything from an inflatable Santa Claus to a self-constructed Christmas tree on the left side of the house. As far as the electric bill goes, it increases substantially during the holiday season. But that&#8217;s not a reason to stop his hobby, Parente said.</p><p>&#8220;I love the smiles on people&#8217;s faces,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just a hobby and I can&#8217;t stop doing it. I love it and I can&#8217;t help it.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Lighting up the Junction</strong></p><p>John Grill has been lighting his 60-foot spruce tree for Christmas each of the past 16 years. Every year, the display gets more and more spectacular.</p><p>The tree, in front of the Grill home on Union Street, Pittston, is decorated with more than 10,000 lights. It used to be just a tree, he said; however, with the help of his son, the tree has turned into a magical winter wonderland.</p><p>Every hour on the hour, starting at 5 p.m., lights flash to the sounds of five different songs, which last about 20 minutes. A sign near the tree directs visitors in their cars to tune to 99.9 FM.</p><p>&#8220;I think everyone in the Junction expects it,&#8221; Grill said. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to miss the tree when I get older. It&#8217;s just been going on for so long.&#8221;</p><p>The process of decorating is a long one, Grill said, unsure of how many hours it takes to get each light in the perfect place. The star, he said, tops it off.</p><p>On top of the tree sits a large star with 1,250 lights. To get the star up there, Grill lifts it without the lights most of the way up the tree. While hanging from the tree, he attaches the lights and puts the star into place.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve seen Rockefeller Center&#8217;s tree and it just sits there,&#8221; Grill said. &#8220;This makes it feel different. I&#8217;m glad people enjoy it.&#8221;</p><p>Grill&#8217;s isn&#8217;t the only property in the Junction decked out for the holiday season. The Cherkauskas family on Chapel Street turned to the white lights to make their house the brightest on the block.</p><p><strong>West Pittston&#8217;s holiday spirit</strong></p><p>Across the river, West Pittston Tomorrow is holding a house-decorating contest. Because of this, the town is lit up like a candle.</p><p>The Reilly family on Susquehanna Avenue took a classic approach to this year&#8217;s decorations. The house isn&#8217;t strung with thousands of lights, but just enough as it is lit from the outside with a pair of nutcrackers guarding the front steps.</p><p>The Hutchins family on Fremont Street stepped up its decorating style this year because of several holiday contests throughout the borough.</p><p>West Pittston Tomorrow will host the decorating contest starting Dec. 26. Residents wishing to participate are asked to have decorations turned on from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. from Dec. 26 through Dec. 30. Winners will be announced Dec. 30. The contest is open to businesses and residents in West Pittston only. There will be prizes awarded in two categories: traditional and whimsical. Prizes will be awarded for first and second place. Visit www.wptomorrow.com for details about the contest.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Hutchins&#8217; house on Fremont Street in West Pittston added inflatables to the scene. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_FreemontSt-7.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Hutchins&#8217; house on Fremont Street in West Pittston added inflatables to the scene. </caption0><photoCredit0>Nick Wagner | Sunday Dispatch </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_LuzerneSt-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Cavello family home on Luzerne Street in West Pittston used much of the yard to create a Christmas scene. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_LuzerneSt-7.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Cavello family home on Luzerne Street in West Pittston used much of the yard to create a Christmas scene. </caption1><photoCredit1>Nick Wagner | Sunday Dispatch </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_SusquehannaAve-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Reilly house on Susquehanna Avenue in West Pittston took a simple approach to the holiday season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_SusquehannaAve-7.jpg</photo2><caption2>The Reilly house on Susquehanna Avenue in West Pittston took a simple approach to the holiday season. </caption2><photoCredit2>Nick Wagner | Sunday Dispatch </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_UnionSt-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">This 60-foot spruce Christmas tree sits on the Union Street property of John Grill. Grill has been decorating the tree for almost two decades in the Junction section of Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_UnionSt-7.jpg</photo3><caption3>This 60-foot spruce Christmas tree sits on the Union Street property of John Grill. Grill has been decorating the tree for almost two decades in the Junction section of Pittston. </caption3><photoCredit3>Nick Wagner | Sunday Dispatch </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_SterlingSt-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Parente family on Sterling Street in Pittston Township created a once-in-a-lifetime holiday wonderland. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Christmas_SterlingSt-7.jpg</photo4><caption4>The Parente family on Sterling Street in Pittston Township created a once-in-a-lifetime holiday wonderland. </caption4><photoCredit4>Nick Wagner | Sunday Dispatch </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Greater Pittston homesdecked out for holidays</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Nick Wagner</p><p>nwagner@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Nick Wagner at 570-991-6406 or on Twitter @Dispatch_Nick.</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table class="mceItemTable" style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; width: 98%;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; text-align: right; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width: 50em; font-size: 90%;">0KEyDg1cOds</td></tr><tr><td style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; text-align: right; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size: 90%;">YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; text-align: right; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size: 90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KEyDg1cOds</td></tr><tr><td style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; text-align: right; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size: 90%;"> &lt;iframe width=&#8221;560&#8221; height=&#8221;315&#8221; src=&#8221;https://www.youtube.com/embed/0KEyDg1cOds&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</td></tr><tr><td style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; text-align: right; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size: 90%;"> Peter Parente, of Sterling Street in Pittston Township, has decked out his parents home for the holidays. Passers-by can tune in to 90.3 FM and see the lights bounce to the beat of the music.</td></tr><tr><td style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; text-align: right; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size: 90%;"> Nick Wagner | Times Leader</td></tr><tr><td style="border: currentColor; border-image: none; text-align: right; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size: 90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-size: 70%; margin-top: 10px;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Houses in Greater Pittston decked out for the holiday season