James Joanow likes balloons. His grandmother recalls that he's been collecting them since he was around 5 years old. James especially likes the oversized inflatables that are the latest thing to decorate front yards for holidays and special occasions. The problem is that James lives in a 2 bedroom condo where holiday displays are frowned upon -- especially those that take up lawn space.
So, James called on grandparents Nick and Marlene Joanow to donate their front yard to showcase his collection on major holidays. The fact that the Joanows live on an isolated Lakewood Terrace cul-de-sac -- with a tiny, hilly, front yard -- has not dampened James' enthusiasm. "He loves standing out front in the cold and answering questions from neighbors and passersby," notes Councilman Joanow.
Each holiday serves up new and bigger additions to his displays. James is now 7. Even though he still lives in the Roseland condo, he manages to spend most of his December weekends visiting "Poppy" and giving guided tours while fine tuning his latest project. He told me that he's been working on this year's Christmas display since taking down an equally amazing Halloween show that startled neighbors with two fog machines. "He really does it all himself," says Nick. "He arranges all of them and configures all the wiring so that no one gets tangled up and no circuits are overloaded." Check out this Youtube clip of James in action.
Young James still has two items on the top of his Christmas list: more inflatables and more extension cords.
1 comment:
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