Dickson Ave, Mount Warrigal Christmas lights display last year. Photos: Supplied.
On day one of our 12 days of what Christmas means to me series, we meet the Shearer family who start putting up their award-winning Christmas lights display in Mount Warrigal from mid-October.
Christmas starts as early as mid-October for Dickson Ave, Mount Warrigal couple Peter and Jodie Shearer, as they unravel and assemble what has previously been dubbed Australia’s best Christmas lights display.
It’s become a time when the couple get to shine a light on the joy of Christmas, the true meaning of giving and the power of reconnecting with people.
Jodie flicks through a book on the kitchen bench that photographically documents each year of their award-winning Christmas lights, which not only reminds her of the first festive lights display back in 2008 but also how the display and charitable element have evolved over those years.
“Christmas holds significant meaning for Peter and I, as we traditionally celebrate with family and friends,” Jodie said.
“It is a time for joy, giving, and reconnecting with individuals we haven’t seen in a long time.
“I believe this is one of the reasons we started doing our lights display.
“We enjoy putting smiles on everyone’s faces and connecting with our community and raising money for charities which need support.”
Jodie said her eldest son was only four when she started putting lights on the front lawn, with the youngest son now 17 and both boys required to help with the heavy lifting of what now involved big-scale light features.
Choosing an Australian theme to be different from others in the Illawarra at the time, the display now boasts the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Centrepoint Tower, Luna Park face, a ferris wheel, Santa’s sleigh and Santa zoo.
In previous years they have had friends dress up as Santa, the Grinch and Olaf.
Their latest efforts include modifications to the Sydney Opera House, which is made of steel, sheeting, and 200 cable ties to attach lights to it.
“We’ve got a friend in Sydney who made it all for us,” Peter said.
“His time and effort to make it is his charitable donation to us.”
Charity has been a key theme throughout, having decided in 2012 to donate funds raised by onlookers to the McGrath Foundation, before changing to a cause close to Jodie’s heart, the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, due to her sister’s teenage friend passing away from brain cancer in 2014.
This year they will be supporting Rare Cancers Australia, due to Jodie’s brother-in-law working for the organisation which aims to improve the lives and health outcomes of people living with rare and less common cancers.
Peter said their brother-in-law had invited them to take part in a charity walk up Mount Kosciuszko for the past two years, where they had met people helped by the organisation.
“We started understanding the story of rare cancers and we started to get a bit more invested in it,” he said.
“We realised they’re not getting a lot of support, so that’s why we made the decision when we were up there last year that we’re going to raise money for them this year.”
Jodie said Rare Cancers Australia didn’t receive as much funding as many other cancer charities, with those living with these cancers experiencing more inequities in comparison to people living with common cancers, such as fewer treatment options, limited information and less clinical expertise.
“With rare cancers, a lot of the medication isn’t covered on the PBS, so there is so much out of pocket costs as well,” she said.
Visitors to their Mount Warrigal Christmas display are able to donate through using a QR code or donation boxes.
Jodie said the weather and cost of living had impacted their fundraising efforts last year, having raised about $1000 compared to previous years raising between $2000 and $3000.
She said they now no longer asked for a donation to take photos in the Santa sleigh, due to many families being unable to.
“I’ve said to people, it doesn’t matter about money, it’s all about you getting memorable photos in the sleigh and making everyone happy,” she said.
While they received many positive comments each year, there were always two questions.
“They always ask: ‘Where do you store it all?’ and ‘What’s your electricity bill?’ It’s always the same two questions,” Peter said, laughing.
And the answers? “We always say with the electricity bill that we have solar panels, so that helps. And with storing it, it’s storing it anywhere it fits,” Jodie said.
Peter said when they renovated the house, he ended up having to create a 14-metre-long garage to allow enough storage.
“That’s my job, storing things away. It’s like that game Tetris,” he said, laughing.
But the effort is obviously worth it.
“It is rewarding once it’s up,” Peter said.
Jodie agreed. “As long as we make everyone happy.”
That effort has also come with many awards over the years, including a national award.
“The biggest was 2022 and we won the best house in Australia with the Today Show,” Jodie said.
“We were shocked. 2022 was our big year with the volume of people that were coming from Sydney and everywhere. It was incredible.”
Region Illawarra is gathering addresses for great Christmas streetlights. You can add your street address to the list by emailing [email protected]
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