Prince George local Rose Verkaik has loved Christmas lights for as long as she can remember.
The 20-year-tradition started with her father, Stefan, who has since passed away.
Rose has picked up the project where he left off — and expanded it too.
“He would always buy me something every year for Christmas, he lived with us, but he just had this thing for Christmas lights. Every year he would buy us more, and every year I would put them up,” said Verkaik.
“He would say to me ‘Rosita! turn on your lights!’, and I would be like ‘dad! it’s the middle of the day!’ then he would say ‘I don’t care! My friends are coming!’ So, we would turn the lights on in the middle of the day to make dad happy.”
The elaborate display, located at 6070 Buckhorn road, takes about three weeks to install every year.
She even won the Light Up PG contest, part of Spirit of the North’s Festival of Trees event, for the best-decorated house in the city.
Rose starts in November, putting in an average of eight to ten hours of work in a day setting up stands and stringing lights from the rooftops and nearby trees.
It’s not entirely a one-woman effort though.
Rose’s daughter in law comes to help after work, and the two spend anywhere from three to six hours working together.
The majority of the lights are stored in an outside shed, so the first order of business is to lay everything out on the lawn.
“We don’t turn anything on until after Remembrance Day, but because of the huge display we do have to start putting lights on trees early in the year because the wires end up breaking,” she explained.
“Every day we are outside, no matter if it’s rainy, cold, snowing or fourty below. We’re out there.”
Three weeks of careful planning and meticulous construction later, the switch gets flipped on December 1.
After her father passed away in 2013, Verkaik admits she thought about giving up the tradition entirely, feeling like it was too painful to continue on her own.
“My family said, why don’t you make it so he can see it from heaven? So, that’s why I do it.”
Seven years later and much to Rose’s surprise, the property has become a popular stop on local Christmas Light tours.
Verkaik says hundreds of people come by every year for pictures and even some tour busses.
“I had no clue that’s what they were coming out here for. I had no clue, none. It was hilarious.”
“I tell people, I hope he sees it from heaven. Well, Kurt Flesher says to me, ‘you can see it from Pluto!’
There are thousands of lightbulbs, including a 40-foot rooftop sleigh, glittering snowmen, and others.
But, everything began with one central piece, the gazebo that Stefan built and decorated 20 years ago.
“When I’m stringing those lights, I can hear my dad,” smiled Verkaik.
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