Press Coverage

Light of the Season

Dream of living along Christmas Tree Lane turns into party.

By TIM EBERLY
Fresno Bee
December 2, 2004

	Santa Claus greets walkers touring Fresno's Christmas Tree Lane. The two-mile stretch of Van Ness between Shields and Shaw avenues was open only to pedestrian traffic Wednesday night during the 82nd annual lighting of the traditional holiday destination. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee

As a McLane High School student, Gene Adams dreamed of living on the Christmas Tree Lane stretch of Van Ness Boulevard.

When December rolled around, he and his girlfriend, Linda, cruised the strip to enjoy the lights and people that turned the street into a wonderland of holiday decorations.

Adams was captivated by the elaborate scene and the large trees that dot the road. But he never thought he would live there.

"We didn't think I'd amount to anything," said Adams, half-joking. "It was just kind of a dream."

Adams got his wish.

About a dozen years after he and Linda were married, the asphalt paving contractor moved his family into a home at Van Ness Boulevard and Sussex Avenue. At the time, nearly 30 years ago, it was a fixer-upper. And the couple was still moving in when it came time for those with Christmas spirit to swarm to Van Ness. That first year, their house wasn't lit up, but they sat on the floor in the home and watched people pass by.

"It was kind of overwhelming," Adams, now 57, said. "It was pretty special."

The Adamses' participation in Christmas Tree Lane has grown each year. He and his wife spent two weeks putting as many as 20,000 Christmas lights on their front lawn. They hired a caterer to feed about 200 of their family, friends and co-workers. Adams also hired a magician to entertain the 60 or so children who attended his party.

"Each time, you have to do something different," Adams said Wednesday at the opening night of the 82nd annual lighting. Thousands of people participated in a two-mile walk, which stretched from Shields Avenue north to Shaw. Bundled in winter clothes, people strolled down the closed street side by side with their families, friends and pets.

Brian and Janet Hobbins came to Fresno from England to visit their daughter and grandsons for Thanksgiving.

Near the end of their three-week visit, the Hobbinses strolled through the crowd on Van Ness. Their daughter, Paula Watkins, 39, stopped to take a photo of her son, 3-year-old Caillou, standing next to a purple hippopotamus.

"It's marvelous," Janet Hobbins said. "It's lovely that they shut the road. We're getting more and more houses decorated [in England], but never a whole road like this."

Nathan Jankowski, 28, and his wife, Jennie, surprised their 5-year-old daughter, Kayli, by bringing her to the parade.

"We kind of sprung it on her," said Nathan, carrying Kayli on his shoulders.

Every family gathering is special for the Jankowski family. Kayli is now in recovery after receiving a bone marrow transplant. In July 2001, she was diagnosed with a rare disease called juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia.

Holding on to the family's pet dog, which was dressed in a red sweater, Jennie Jankowski said the holiday walk made it official: "It feels like Christmas now."

The reporter can be reached at teberly@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6465.