How Port Coquitlam's Miracle on Rae Street keeps on shining
Credit to Author: Stephanie Ip| Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:35:55 +0000
The first time Port Coquitlam resident Candice DeMarinis realized Dale Brindley was a not regular neighbour was during a conversation with his wife several years ago.
The two families live three houses apart on Rae Street, DeMarinis for 16 years and the Brindleys for the last 10.
“She’d be like, ‘Oh, Dale bought a new decoration. Dale bought another new decoration,’” recalled DeMarinis, whose daughter is the same age as one of the Brindley children.
“I’d hear that all time and … it was summertime and he was buying these massive ornaments. Like, where’s he even finding this stuff right now? It’s June!”
Those “massive ornaments” are what help transform the Brindleys’ Port Coquitlam home each Christmas into the Miracle on Rae Street, a holiday house and lawn display so epic it requires a boom lift rental, a crew of five to install and regular visits from an electrician to ensure everything is running safely.
“It started off as, ‘Whoa, this is a lot of lights’ and then every year, it’s just kind of gone from there,” said DeMarinis, who is delighted by “the Rae Street movement,” as she calls it.
Some of the christmas decorations on Dale Brindley’s house at 3313 Rae St. Port Coquitlam.
The display includes an estimated 200,000 lights, large ornaments on an even larger tree, and has prompted the city to implement one-way traffic flow on Rae Street each year for the month of December, to prevent gridlock from the hundreds of drive-by admirers each night.
“It’s busy on our road, there’s no question about it,” said DeMarinis. “But it is amazing, it is truly amazing for a whole month.”
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For Dale Brindley, the growth of the Miracle on Rae Street is less about childhood traditions and more about exercising hands-on creativity, spending time with his best friends putting the whole operation together and sharing joy with his neighbourhood.
“It just got so big as far as the amount of stuff we were getting and putting up,” he told Postmedia this month of the display that would put Clark Griswold to shame.
“It just turned into this creation, this ‘Let’s keep it going’ kind of thing – and the joy that it was bringing to our community around here was incredible.”
Some of the christmas decorations on Dale Brindley’s house at 3313 Rae St. Port Coquitlam.
Much of the “product,” as he calls it, is purchased from local department stores, while some is ordered online. The majority of it is sponsored by a family construction company – have you heard of Beedie Development? – but Brindley’s since lost track of how much has been spent on decorations, ornaments and inflatable figures over the years.
“I’m all over department stores, all kinds. Everywhere – Lowe’s, Canadian Tire, Walmart,” he said.
Everything is stored in a 10-foot by 13-foot storage unit nearby and it takes a full weekend in October to transport the whole lot to the property at 3313 Rae St. Then begins the painstaking six-week process of going through each strand of LED lights to replace bulbs, make repairs and get things laid out according to Brindley’s design.
Homeowner Dale Brindley’s holiday display the Miracle on Rae Street, located at 3313 Rae Street, Port Coquitlam
Brindley calls in four of his best friends and even takes a few days off work here and there to get things installed. A local lift rental company gives Brindley a discount each year and he coordinates with the city’s fire department so he can safely get each of the 82 ornaments up on his property’s 86-foot tree.
This year, arches stretch over the driveway and a fire pit and gazebo have been installed so visitors can warm their hands while surrounded by lights. Santa and his reindeer are once again up on the roof, along with about 50 inflatable figure scattered throughout the display: Disney characters, classic Christmas icons and more.
Some of the christmas decorations on Dale Brindley’s house at 3313 Rae St. Port Coquitlam.
Once everything is up and running on Dec. 1, an electrician comes by regularly to ensure Brindley’s display won’t overload. Brindley says keeping the lights on each night requires about 22 amps, which he’s been told is the equivalent of roasting a turkey for five hours in an electric oven each night.
Now a few years into the tradition, the neighbours all take pride in the extravagant display – both Brindley and DeMarinis say there’s only been one neighbour who has expressed anything less than excitement – and many neighbours even host parties and bring their guests over to take in the lights.
“It’s funny, actually, just walking around, listening to them describe to other people that have never seen it before how we do it, where we get the stuff, talking like it’s me, like they’ve talked to me enough times or figured it out,” said Brindley. “It’s hilarious.”
Some of the christmas decorations on Dale Brindley’s house at 3313 Rae St. Port Coquitlam.
Meanwhile, Brindley’s two daughters, 20 and 16, aren’t so interested in the lights these days but his 8-year-old son is still happy to pitch in.
“They say, ‘Dad’s nuts’ and they help a little bit,” he said with a laugh. “My son’s more interested than the daughters. They just say, ‘Oh god, it’s out of control.’”
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The Miracle on Rae Street isn’t just a flex of decorating prowess or a way to show up other homeowners.
Each year, Brindley has collected donations from visitors for Coquitlam’s SHARE Food Bank as part of the annual tradition. The first year, he was able to collect $500. Last year, the display brought in $7,000 and he suspects this year’s total will inch closer to $8,000.
By the end of the month, Brindley figures an estimated 10,000 people will have enjoyed his family’s display and helped contribute to the SHARE Food Bank fund.
“That’s huge because if they weren’t coming, I would probably stop doing it,” he said.
This year, Starbucks volunteered 18 employees to serve coffee and hot chocolate by donation one Sunday, to help drive Brindley’s collection efforts. On the evening of Dec. 15, the crew served more than 900 cups of warm drinks.
Some of the christmas decorations on Dale Brindley’s house at 3313 Rae St. Port Coquitlam.
DeMarinis is not surprised that the Brindleys have used their eye-catching display for charity. On evenings where the Brindleys are out, DeMarinis said she has been tapped to help refill a bowl of candy canes Brindley has left out for kids and visitors, in case supplies run low.
“Honestly, they’re so great,” she said of the Brindleys. “They’re just really genuine people and they just have good hearts.”
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The Miracle of Rae Street is located at 3313 Rae St., Port Coquitlam with lights on nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, until Jan. 5. Rae Street is one-way only throughout December; please enter off Prairie Avenue or walk in. Cash and non-perishable food donations are accepted for the SHARE Food Bank.