Christmas Tree Lane made its 87th debut Saturday with the same oohs and ahhs as years past.
Sindee Silveira said, "It's beautiful. When you see it from a car, it's just different, but when you're just walking and walking up close, it's different."
"Happy, joyful and it's tradition," said Becky Claypool.
Christmas Tree Lane's first walking night of the season brought in thousands of spectators, many of whom came to see Dean Alexander's spectacular display.
Briana Chapple said, "I like it a lot. It's really cool. It's really exciting to be here."
Alexander is the president of the Fig Garden Homeowner's Association. The group uses donations to help fund the annual Christmas Tree Lane event, but less money came in this year, which means the event started a few days later than normal.
Alexander said, "If we don't have donations, that means we can't put the event on. 87 years, every year it's more wonderful. It's a community project with community support."
Still, people who visit Christmas Tree Lane can still expect what they've seen in years past, including Jim Reid's Sesame Street display. Earlier this week, Elmo was stolen from his front yard. But in the true spirit of Christmas, and Christmas Tree Lane, someone made and then donated a new one.
"You know putting up these displays is for the kids and they love to go by and see him and they go by at night and yell Elmo. It's great. It's nice to get a new one back," said Reid.
After Saturday night, there is only one more walking night where the street will be blocked off to vehicles for people to walk the two mile stretch, and that will be Tuesday December 15th. The entire event ends the day after Christmas on December 26th.