HEWITT, Texas — Meet the winners of 25 News' and Pro Star Rental's "Merry & Bright Light Contest!"
- Wendy and Damian Macleod won the 2023 KXXV Merry & Bright Light Contest.
- The family set up 115 blow-up displays, including the Minons, the Grinch and more.
- The Macleod's dedicated this year’s Christmas display to Former City of Waco Sanitation Worker, Nick Ebertz.
The Merry & Bright gallery is still up for viewing! Click here to view the contest page.
BROADCAST SCRIPT:
Every year, the Macleod Family goes all out for Christmas.
“We were going to take a year off because it came around so quickly," Damian Macleod said.
"The neighbors kept asking for it — here you go neighbors."
Their front yard is filled with blow up Minions, Santas, and other displays.
“He decided one day ‘Let’s start putting up blow-ups' — then we started with two, five, and ten, and so on," Wendy Macleod said.
"Now we’re at 115."
It all began in Dec. 2008, when Damian’s brother Justin gave them a couple blow-ups.
“It started with a turkey and a carousel — we were looking at each other, 'What are we gonna do with these things?'," Wendy said.
"The next night, his (Damian's) brother was tragically killed. We kind of forgot about Christmas for a while."
After moving to Texas in 2017, the Macleod family decided to honor Justin’s memory by putting up Christmas displays every year to celebrate the holiday season.
Now they’re spreading holiday cheer and honoring Justin’s memory as well as others who have impacted the community.
“Our main focus was on Nick Ebertz from the City of Waco."
"He loved doing this for the kids. After hours he would drive the big float for the City of Waco — It just made us think of him.”
They’ve already added Whataburger with a "Merry Christmas" sign. They’re thinking about adding a decoration for another Texas staple next year — the Buc-ee's Beaver.
The Macleods say they plan on keeping up the display at 216 Dakota Drive in Hewitt every night from 5:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. until Dec. 26, so everyone can stop by and enjoy the holiday fun.
