2020 may be the last year for the Christmas decorations by Terry Hirsch on 2030 Somerset Lane. Terry was kind enough to share her family’s tradition with our neighborhood over the years. Below is her story with some added photos:
Back in the 80’s, my husband and I were living in Casper, WY. My next door neighbor was the art teacher at the high school. Every year, she put out hand painted characters in her yard and we fell in love with them. We were then transferred to Birmingham and lived in Little Ridge subdivision off of 119. I had two young children, two and four years old. They are now 34 and 36. I decided I wanted to try my hand at making the characters like my Casper neighbor.
I started out with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and my kids loved them. This was around 1989.
The next year I added Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, and the year after that, I added the Peanuts gang.
The characters moved with us to Nashville, TN, where I continued with this family tradition of adding characters each year. After four years in Franklin and many more characters, we were transferred back to Birmingham and we continued on with the tradition.
Each character is hand drawn by me on plywood. My husband cuts them out and then I sand and paint them. I continued the tradition for my grandson, who is now 13 years old. Now, we keep it going for all of our neighbors to enjoy.
I turn 60 this year and this was going to be my last year, but after all the emotional posts I received from the neighborhood, we are going to try to continue as long as we can.
You can take photos if you want. I have gotten much joy from doing this over the years.
Happy Holidays!
Greg and Terry Hirsch
I know my family (and kids at 10 and 12yrs) appreciate your effort, and it’s clear many other residents do as well. Be sure to check out the 2020 addition!