Neighborhood keeps family’s Christmas tradition alive

(Published Dec. 24, 2008)
Neighborhood keeps family’s Christmas tradition alive

By Graham Sweeney
Oakland News

Since family traditions often spark memories of years past and elicit an infinite number of feelings, they are often viewed as the linchpin of any holiday season.
That is why a Hickory Withe neighborhood recently came together to keep one family’s annual Christmas tradition alive.
Four years ago, the Higgs family moved from its home in Cordova to Shady Oaks Drive in western Fayette County. Neighbors quickly learned that family patriarch Kevin Higgs had a penchant for elaborate outdoor Christmas decorations. 
“He would take the week of Thanksgiving off and spend days putting lights up,” neighbor and longtime family friend David Evans said. “It was something he loved doing for the community.”
Evans said Higgs invited area families to his house each year to have their pictures taken with Santa Claus, sip warm beverages and view the vast assortment of holiday ornaments that seemed to adorn every square foot of the family’s property. Evans also got involved in the festivities and frequently dressed as Santa Claus.
“It grew each year,” Kevin’s wife Marcia said of the luminous presentation. “It was something he looked forward to all year long. For us, this was Christmas.”
But the Higgs family suffered a shocking loss in June, when Kevin was fatally injured at the age of 45 while removing a tree from his property.
“He was just such a wonderful person,” Evans said. “Everyone around here thought the world of him. He is truly missed around this neighborhood.”
So missed, in fact, that the neighborhood Kevin made such an impact on in such a short amount of time decided this year to pay tribute to him by replicating his labor of love.
“We got up one Saturday morning and some of us started showing up (at the Higgs house),” Evans said. “And the next thing we knew, everybody was out there helping.
“Of course, there is no way that we thought we could come in and follow Kevin’s exact plan,” he acknowledged. “But we had so much help that we were able to do it.” 
Earlier this month, more than 40 friends, family members and even strangers came out to help recreate the winter wonderland that Kevin had cherished during his lifetime.
“There were people there helping we didn’t even know,” Evans said.
Then, on Dec. 12, Marcia Higgs and her two daughters invited the neighborhood to their home to carry on the tradition that Kevin began.
As in years past, more than 100 area residents came out to view the lights, eat Christmas cookies and have their pictures taken with Santa Claus.
Evans even reprised his role as Santa.
“This is a tribute to him,” he said of Kevin, “because he brought so much joy to everybody.”
And while the man who started the tradition was not present, the annual display stood as a reminder of the holiday spirit.
“What they did for us,” Marcia said. “It means so much to the family. They’ve given us so much. This is the spirit of Christmas.”