He says smiling faces of his neighbors kept him at it
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SOMERVILLE, Mass. —
For decades, a Massachusetts grandfather has made his own Christmas decorations, turning his home into what one neighbor calls a “blockbuster” house.
When the sun goes down in Somerville this time of year, the lights on Lenny Rigione’s house come up.
“You know, when you get kids,” he said, “this is what you do.”
His house on Central Street is just one stop on the Somerville Art Council’s Illuminations Tour: A digital guide to the best lights in town.
WCVB-TV
“I’ve been here what? 32 years?” Rigione said, turning to his daughter Hope Parsons for confirmation. “They been coming almost every year.”
He’s talking about the neighborhood.
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Because, as it turns out, if Rigione builds it, the neighbors will come.
WCVB-TV
“Best house ever!” shouted one child from the street during a recent bicycle tour of lights.
And Rigione loves every second of it.
“And they'd stand outside, ‘ooh aah,’” he said. “And that's what makes me feel good.”
Rigione, now 82, has five children, seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and several hundred Christmas decorations — if not more.
“You know you see the skeleton out there?” he said. “That was out there for Halloween. I just took, and I turned him around and put a Santa Claus suit on it!”
And just about every single one of his decorations is made by hand.
“They’re all my favorite because I did it!” Rigione said with a smile. “I don’t know if that sounds wrong or what.”
His house is what Rachel Strutt with the Somerville Arts Council calls a longstanding blockbuster house.
“He’s an artist!” she said. “We think of somebody like Lenny as an artist because he makes his own ornaments. He would be quick to say like, ‘I’m not an artist! I never went to art school.’”
“I'm not an artist,” Rigione said. “I just do it because I enjoy doing these things for the kids.”
The magic happens downstairs in his basement where, for more than 60 years, he’s been drawing and sawing. He takes inspiration from just about everywhere and puts it in the yard.
“It's about the kids,” Parsons said. “But the adults get the biggest kick out of it.”
Parsons says the simple joy of it has kept her dad at it for 60 years.
“The love of Christmas. The love of family,” she said. “Family is the biggest part of everything.”
This year, Parsons said her dad’s health has faltered.
And it’s their first Christmas without mom.
WCVB-TV
“She loved Christmas,” Rigione said, looking at a picture of his late wife, Yvonne.
But with help from family and the glow of happy faces, he’s still making his slice of Central Street a magical place.
“Dad is special. I mean, that's all I can say,” Parsons said. “Love you, Dad!“
So when the sun goes down in Somerville this year, the lights on Lenny Rigione’s house will still come up.
“I hope they feel like — it’s Christmas!” he said. "This is what Christmas is about!”
You can find Rigione’s house on the Illuminations tour through early January.
Self-guided tours can be done using Somerville’s official online Illuminations Map.