My brother and I went on a search for magic Wednesday.
Our dad died last December, and he had sparked the Christmas magic in our lives as children. Christmas was big. The tree and the lights were — well, they were magic.
We’d pile into the Pontiac LeMans and drive around town looking for Christmas lights. Fat Man’s was a must that time of year, and when the Godfather of Soul lived on Walton Way, his Christmas display was a sight to behold.
Deanna Brown Thomas told me that for some people that was the first time they’d seen a black Santa Claus.
And there was a house on Walton Way Extension that had animatronic decorations.
At our house, we had strands of lights with C9 bulbs in them. My brother would change the bulbs around on a regular basis; no one knew what pattern they’d be getting when the lights came on at night.
My brother brought a mini-lighted Christmas tree for the car because everyone needs one of those, right? And off we went.
Part of the magic we were looking for on Wednesday was finding what we saw as children. There were no computerized displays set to music. We listened to WBBQ on the radio when were kids, but for this trip, I pulled up the Pandora Christmas Radio station and set it to Grandma’s Favorites.
As Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Dean Martin and others from bygone eras crooned songs of the season, I wove through neighborhoods in west Augusta and Martinez.
For those of you who don’t know, my brother is the artist known as Porkchop, and although he’s an age that I won’t mention, he’s still got a precious childlike quality about him. And when he laughs, there’s such a pure joy in his voice.
Decorations and lights we found.
It’s simple things that make him giggle, and it’s heartwarming to hear him. We rode through Montclair on our journey.
One thing about Gardners Mill Road is many neighbors get into the Christmas spirit. It’s not just one house with a ton of lights and everyone else in darkness. Lots of neighbors put out their Christmas lights – including the house with the lone blow mold snowman.
Blow mold items bring my brother joy, especially the nativity we passed and the black blow mold Santa
“Ooh, ooh, ooh,” I heard coming from the passenger seat. That meant slow down so he could take a photo.
We headed out Washington Road toward Martinez. There was a neighborhood we’d visited last year, but I couldn’t find it. Last December was a blur.
It was on that part of the trip that we found a neighborhood in Martinez where my brother claims I tried to kill the both of us, but why is there a ravine with trees in the middle of Lenox Drive?
Anyway, he didn’t die, and neither did I. That became the running tagline.
After winding through Maywood Drive and Old Trail Road, we found our way to Fair Oaks Road, where we hit the Clark Griswold jackpot on the night.
The Gilliland home, which was part of the Columbia County Christmas Light Fight, an annual competition among homes with the best lights display, didn’t disappoint.
It has not one, but two radio stations, playing sounds associated with the display. On one station, you can hear the Santa that is on the front porch; the second radio station plays the music for the lights display. And I got to hear that giggle of my brother’s when snow began to fall.
OK, it was soap, but it was such a fun display with the illusion of snow. And why not – the owner of the house is Michael Gilliland, a magician. We’d found the magic.
Here are a few lights displays around the area. If it rains, some of the displays may not be on.
The following homes were part of the Columbia County Christmas Light Fight, 250 North Belair Road, Evans; 3927 Marsella Ave. Martinez; 269 W. Wynngate Dr. Martinez; 4128 Fair Oaks Rd., Martinez; 1165 Oakton Trail, Evans; 226 Flores Lane, Martinez; 162 S. Old Belair Rd. Grovetown; and 4576 Colonial Rd. Martinez.
I wrote a story on the Smith house at Oakton Trail. The family won the competition.
Other Columbia County homes with lots of Christmas cheer include 4381 Quail Creek Rd., Martinez; Christmas Lights and the Candy Cane Man is at 788 Springbrook Circle, Evans 5230 Windmill Place, Evans; 420 Old Evans Rd, Martinez; and 4512 Coldwater St., Grovetown.
In Hephzibah, there’s 2004 Bald Eagle Dr.
And in South Carolina, there’s 2482 Wire Rd., Aiken; 115 Graystone Dr. Beech Island; 2122 Augusta Rd. (Highway 421), Warrenville; 36 Sybal Lane; 349 Copeland Circle, North Augusta; and 2063 Gardenview Dr., Graniteville. A special cookie and cocoa bomb event is scheduled beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18 at 613 Kershaw St. in North Augusta.
And the menorah is lit for Hanukkah for the first time in decades at the Augusta Jewish Museum on Telfair Street. It will be up through the end of the month even though Hanukkah has ended.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the features editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
