A tragic loss to our Family

Doug Musson

Doug Musson in front of the motorcycle he made for his son Cam Musson after Cam was killed on his motorcycle.

On Monday December 18th/2017 tragedy struck our family. Doug Musson, Our father/husband/grandfather and great grandfather and the person who started this display and creates all the figures was killed. He was up on a ladder trying to find out why water was dripping on the pathway which might drip on visitors to the display, when the ladder fell. He died in hospital.

Our family is devastated. We debated even turning on the lights but decided he would want them on and he worked hard on making all of the displays.

We are truly appreciative of all the support and the outpouring of love by the community.

Joanne Musson (Doug’s wife)

There is a nice link from GLobal News here

Thanks so much for all the cards and letters as well as the donations. We are in tears over the outpouring love from our great community. We wish we could respond to everyone but it will be impossible but please know that every email and donation is appreciated and read by us. It has shocked us and made us realize that there are so many good people around.

Thanks to all the people who made donations to help us keep the lights on.

Our family has been decorating our home for the holidays for more than 30 years. It all started in Calgary, Alberta, Canada when my dad started to string up a few lights on the house. Every year we would add additional strings of lights.

Our family moved to Burlington, Ontario, Canada in 1976. We continued to put up lights but for some reason Dad’s interest in the lights seemed to fade. That was when I decided to take an interest in decorating the house. It started with a few strings outlining the house. Next a few wired form reindeers were added. When we noticed that people would stop and look at the lights we realized that we weren’t the only ones who enjoyed Christmas lights. That gave us the spark to get things really going.

We first decided to not only outline the house but also to “fill in” the outlines. We wanted to keep the lights different from everyone else so decided to start custom building our own figures to decorate with.

Dad got a welder and started bending steel and welding it into forms which we had drawn on paper. We then attached lights on the wire frames to bring the figures to life.

Every year we added more figures. In 1997 I decided to animate some of the figures with a light controller used by DJs. We got a dragon to wag its tail, soldiers salute, wheels to spin and fire to leave the dragon’s mouth and even a melting snowman. 2002s addition makes use of animation in a unique way.

On May 16th, 1998, our son and brother Cam was killed in a terrible accident by no fault of his. We debated not doing the display as it would be a sad Christmas without Cam. After much thought we decided rather than not do the display we would do it and add a special tribute to Cam, an animated Harley Davidson Motorcycle.

This was the most difficult figure done to date. I downloaded a picture of a Harley from Harley Davidson’s web site and converted it to a 2D outline with PhotoShop. We printed this and used it as the pattern for our motorcycle. To see how we did this click on the “how we do it” link above.

Why do we got to all the work of putting up these lights? Well, if no one came to see them we would stop doing them. We do it as a celebration of Christmas. We do it to give something back to our community. We do it to bring smiles on people’s faces. Contrary to what many may think, we do not do it for the publicity. I personally shy away from the publicity and let Dad take the lime-light. After all it was Dad who started the tradition..

Where is the display?? When is it on??

The display is located at 3360 SPRUCE AVENUE in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Burlington is located 30 minutes from Toronto and 30 minutes from Niagara Falls. To get here go to the QEW and exit Walkers Line. You then head South (towards the lake) on Walkers line and when you get to Spruce Ave, turn right. Go along Spruce Ave. until you see the school on your right hand side and the display is located right across from the school. If you are going to stop, please go into the school parking lot and PLEASE watch for children crossing the street.

The lights are on from December 1st to the last weekend after New Years Day from 5PM to 10 PM on weekdays and 5PM to 11PM on weekends and holidays.

Joanne

Can I make a donation to help with costs of the display?

Many people have been generous and helped us to maintain and improve the display. We really appreciate any donations placed in the box out front. Moneys are used to repair and upgrade the display as well as pay the huge hydro fees. Without these donations we could not continue the display but please do not feel obligated to donate. The important thing is you enjoy the display. If you want to make an online donation you can click the following button and thanks!

Donation to support display Thanks for any amount!

Many people have expressed an interest in the figures we have made for our display. If there is enough interest we may start building these for purchase. If interested please click on http://christmasdisplay.ca/rope-light-figure-orders/ and send us a message.