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Here are three notable efforts that draw people to see the decorations.

Carswells on Drexel Road

Turning off of N.C. Highway 18 South onto Drexel Road, the lights almost immediately come into view. They are like a beacon to motorists to slow down and take in the Christmas spirit.

The decorations and light display in front of Johnnie and Brenda Carswell’s home have grown over the last 40 years. One of this year’s newest additions is an 8-foot Santa waving to anyone who happens by. The oldest piece is a wooden sleigh that Johnnie Carswell said he bought about 40 years ago. His father made him a wooden Santa in his sleigh being pulled by his reindeer that also is part of the decorations.

The display includes a train coming up the driveway to deliver presents, a Ferris wheel, gingerbread people with a gingerbread house, a tower of presents, candy canes, moving reindeer and even a pink pig.

The display is so extensive it has bled into a neighbor’s yard.

Even Johnnie doesn’t know how many pieces he has on display.

Johnnie, with the help of his granddaughter Makaley Hightower and her husband, Payton, started putting up the outdoor decorations about three weeks before Thanksgiving.

The trio tested the lights during the week of Thanksgiving. Makaley said it took about two hours just to plug up everything.

Johnnie Carswell has a workshop where he replaces bulbs and makes needed repairs. “I fix every one of my lights. I fix them all myself,� Johnnie said. “You gotta have the right tools and stuff to do it with, and then some of the tools I made myself. Once you got something to work with, you can fix anything you want to fix.�

The tradition started with his mother and father, who would put out several pieces for the holiday, Johnnie said. His father taught him how to fix things, he said.

“He could build like crazy, but he liked little pieces like this. And he’d put five or six pieces out in the yard, and the neighbors would go crazy,� Johnnie said.

It’s not just the outside of the home that gets the Christmas treatment. While Johnnie is in charge of the outside, Brenda takes care of the inside. In addition to a Christmas tree, there is a Santa using a quill to write his list by candlelight, a corner curio cabinet that displays porcelain Christmas figurines and even the artwork in the house gets changed out.

The decorations will be up through New Year’s Day.

Snowman tradition in Rutherford College

Dickie Ribet loved putting out snowmen in the yard for Christmas, Carol Ribet said. Today, her Malcolm Boulevard home in Rutherford College features more than 50 snowmen.

It’s a tradition she and husband, Dickie, started more than 50 years ago, she said.

“It has grown over the years, but it’s always, especially the snowmen, is always in memory of my husband,� Carol said. “He loved them. He’s been dead for 12 years now.�

These days, it’s her daughters, Tricia Garrou and Annette Ribet, who help her maintain the tradition. They spent around two days over the Thanksgiving holiday putting out the snowmen, making sure they are secure and lighted.

Carol keeps the holiday tradition going because it makes people happy.

“I had a woman to stop by and tell me that she gets really depressed at Christmas. And she says, ‘When I get depressed, I drive by here just to get joyful again,’� Carol said. “And you’d be surprised at the people that will stop and take pictures. And I love it. I mean, I love it. I love for them to do it. We do it for everybody.�

Carol said she remembers the magic her family felt when they lived in Valdese in the 1960s and a neighbor, John Abernathy, an electrician, would decorate his yard. “And he would always call and say, ‘Tell the kids to get to the window. We’re turning them on,’� Carol said. “And everybody drove by to see those lights.�

It was the magic that he created that caused the spark for Carol and Dickie to start their own tradition.

“So he started me on it,� Carol said of Abernathy. “So I have had something out in my yard almost every year.�

Carol said she doesn’t mind people stopping by to take photos with their kids by the snowmen.

“It’s for people to look at and enjoy,� she said.

The farm in Chesterfield

The home and farm of Brian and Katie Ross transforms into a Christmas wonderland during the holiday season.

If you’re driving down Pax Hill Road in the Chesterfield area in the evening, you can’t miss it. Lighted archways frame the driveway of the home and barns. On the left side of the home’s driveway is the arctic yard that showcases snowmen. The home’s front yard is dedicated to mostly animals of all sorts. There you will find pigs, ducks, chickens, reindeer, dogs, cats and a flamingo. And keeping them company is the Grinch, Eeyore, Snoopy, a unicorn and a dinosaur, along with some more traditional Christmas decorations.

It started out with two reindeer when their youngest daughter was 3 years old. She’s now 12, Katie said. They have six children and six grandchildren.

Christmas also is Katie’s birthday.

The couple, with the encouragement of their youngest daughter, add about 10 decorations every year.

They start decorating the day after Halloween to be ready for Thanksgiving. They split the work, with Brian taking care of the taller features and Katie taking charge of the smaller items.

“I guess we do it because everybody likes it,� Katie said.

“You wouldn’t believe the people who come by here and they just stop,� Brian said. He said people will stop to take photos or pull in their driveway to get a closer look.

“They just can’t wait till you start,� Katie said.