Walk of the Town: Holiday Edition Award for Best design in TD
By Sarah Cook
The Dalles Ore., December 21, 2023 — The night my partner and I made our first rounds of taking in the holiday lights of the season, the fog immediately rolled in. Devoted walkers, we’d opted that night to drive, thinking we’d start uphill from our house, heading southward, to reach some neighborhoods we don’t usually see. But within ten minutes my visibility was halved; I turned left on 21st—at least, I think I did—looped back around, and no longer recognized the block I’d just circled. I don’t drive too often these days, working from home and walking to many places, and I rarely drive at night.
Readers: I was spooked! A strange feeling to have on such a festive outing. I crawled our little Subaru back down to 10th to catch my bearings, driving eastward for a few blocks as I considered just calling it a night.
But my internal deliberations were halted when I looked to my left and saw the most precisely placed array of lights and light-up figures, everything red and white and orbiting a singular more colorful centerpiece, an electric tree, the lights of which seemed to move in all directions. I’d found my first winner.
My partner’s job on these outings is to write down the address of any house I hope to get in touch with, and I assign a word to each one to help me remember the details after the fact because I don’t take pictures right away.
The word for the display at 810 E. 10th Street? Consistency.
When I spoke with the person behind the work, Leroy Tharp, a couple of days later, the first thing I wanted to know was whether the highly uniform design was as intentional as it seemed.
The short answer: Yes!
“My wife Jackie is very helpful in the design of the yard,” he shared, giving lots of credit to his daughter, Maddie, as well. “For the last several years we’ve had only red and white lights, the colors of Christmas. Our in-house decor is virtually the same.” The family has a fondness for the traditional pairing of colors, which resonates deeply with my artistic practices: limitations, writing prompts, and strict forms can generate some of the most interesting work, and creative boundaries have a special way of tapping into beauty and truth more directly than an anything goes mentality.
Suddenly, I realize that 99% of the houses I’ve looked at this season are full of color, nearly bursting. I consider how profound red and white, side by side and ad infinitum, really are.
The decision, then, for Leroy & fam to add that centerpiece—the electric light-up tree—was a significant and very intentional one. “We usually like to do the light tree in front of the window. We had one for a long time and it didn’t last.” Their preference for tradition and focus also means they avoid inflatables, which can veer, his wife points out, a little tacky. “I showed her one with a blow-up Santa and a dog pulling down Santa’s pants.” He told her he thought it was “kinda cute.” She told him, “no.” (Have I mentioned how much laughter occurs during these interviews?) But when Leroy’s wife found this new tree—which includes a remote control that lets you choose from a huge number of patterns and motions—the whole family immediately loved it.
Leroy continued: “We go all out for Christmas…it’s our favorite holiday.” It’s a decorating tradition that they’ve carried out for years—at least 15 of them, he explains, noting that he’s “always had that kind of Clark Griswold mentally when it comes to lights.” Then he tells me a little anecdote:
“I was just at Bi-Mart and a friend of my mother-in-law’s was there. I was just holding my coffee cup and an older lady goes, ‘Are you [so and so’s] son-in-law? Your light display is just incredibly beautiful! You’re so detailed with your work. It’s such a joy to look at.’”
I was excited to hear that I’m not alone in my admiration.
I loop back one last time to this decision to add more color. “I think we just wanted something that stood out a little bit more. Instead of the straight red and white, we added green. The tree is a big deal, obviously,” Leroy notes, admitting that it adds “a little bit more bling.”
But before bling: cheer. It’s part of why the red & white work so well together, the colors able to zero in on the huzzah and jubilation that drives the season, how they complement and contrast simultaneously.
Which leads me organically to my final question: What about next year? With this year’s addition proving successful, I wondered if Leroy was already dreaming up details for the next evolution of things.
“Well,” he says, taking a professional comedic beat. ”Come next November….I’m hiring.”
