If you’ve traveled up or down Northview Lane this Christmas season, you’ve likely noticed that the giant pine tree isn’t decorated from top to bottom and that the lit menagerie is conspicuously absent from the yard in which it stands. I’m told Dr. Hamar sold this house, which has some worried because he was known as the organizer of Northview’s decorations. Let’s chip in and rent a lift or bucket truck for the new owners, eh?

This tree along north 4th Street was one of my favorites but I haven’t seen it lit or decorated this year.

When I was at Fort Lincoln tonight I didn’t see any decorated blockhouses. This display was lit by a generator running inside the blockhouse. What a cold hike that was…but photographically worth it!

Of course, who can forget the Schaff house, south of Mandan? Sadly, Paul Schaff announced a couple of years ago that he was done with his amazing display, one which could be seen from the Seven Seas and a good stretch of Interstate 94.

I don’t think I ever photographed the Anderson building on west Main Avenue when it was decorated, but I’ve come to expect the Christmas decorates to be lit around the top of the building. Tonight it was dark.

While driving around with my best friend tonight we were pondering that the number of decorated homes has declined steadily each Christmas. On a limo ride earlier this week I noticed that we really didn’t have many Christmas lights to see, other than at Sertoma Park and the Northview area. Hopefully this trend reverses.

As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth, don’t let the lack of lights get you down…I sure won’t. Sure, it’s fun to get into the spirit of the season by means of festive decorations, but they pale next to the true meaning of Christmas.