WEST SEATTLE HOLIDAY SCENE: Getting ready for this year’s Menashe Family Lights

Before West Seattle’s brightest Christmas lights start shining, it takes two weeks of work to get ready. We stopped by the Menashe family’s Beach Drive home on Thanksgiving Eve to see how things were going. It was day 3 of decorating and many of the components were still in the back yard, awaiting their place in the annual display:

Josh Menashe pointed out some of what’s new this year – like this Husky:

And nutcrackers flanking the family’s front door:

Some new reindeer are joining the display this year:

As always, lots of lights comprise the display – which has been featured on national TV — from ground to roof to trees – and yes, many are power-saving LEDs:

All the Christmas classics, including candy canes and elves, will take their place:

The big reveal of the finished display is scheduled for one week from tonight – Thursday, December 1st. (You’ll see some testing before that if you happen by in the evening.) Santa and Mrs. Claus are scheduled to be there for photo ops the night of December 10th. And closer to Christmas – date not yet finalized – they’re hoping to have a visit from real reindeer.