Holiday tribute lives on

For Richard Freeman of Lani­kai, putting the Christmas lights and decorations in the front yard for the past 50 years is a way to get into the holiday spirit as well as to remember his wife and son.

His late wife, Adrienne Dawn Freeman, was the force behind the holiday adornments.

"She was a big part of the show," he said. "She was that kind of person (who would say), ‘Come in!’ if people drove by. She’d be out here with her basket full of candy canes … just engaging everybody. She was a talkaholic."

He estimates there are thousands of lights, which will be lit up from 6 to 10 p.m. daily until the second week of January.

A small photo and biography of his wife, who went by Dawn and was known as the "Christmas Lady of Lani­kai," is set on the front lanai railing, near a window display of her collection of Santa figurines, gingerbread houses and a moving carousel on cotton snow.

She died in April 2005 at the age of 74. The couple met while paddling with a local canoe club and were married for 53 years, raising four children.

One Christmas tree continues to be decorated in memory of their son, Richard Freeman Jr., nicknamed Dicki, who was killed by a drunken driver at Castle Junction along Pali Highway in 1983. Christmas was one of Dicki’s favorite holidays, and after placing a small tree at the crash site in his memory, only to have it stolen, the family began to honor him in their front yard.

Freeman, 85, built the white lattice gazebo in his front yard, which is decorated with garlands and lights and houses with a large nutcracker, Christmas tree and Santa Claus. He also built several arbors around the property’s three plumeria trees, along with two wooden reindeer drawing a sleigh, and Roscoe, the 7-foot-tall snowman.

To this day, Roscoe, made in the mid-1960s out of a wire frame and burlap, greets passers-by in the front lawn with a carrot nose and smile.

There are a Nativity scene, several lighted grapevine reindeer and a giant star across the front of the porch by a patch of elephant ear plants (Alocasia amazonica). A lighted Snoopy, angels blowing trumpets and Santa Claus are nestled among the ginger, ti and lauae ferns.

Freeman starts putting up the Christmas display in October but says it’s not as elaborate as it was in the past because his wife used to add a new element every year. Many of the items in the yard —fromthecollectionofgnomesandalargecarouselhorse on the home’s side deck — were her discoveries at shops and garage sales. When she wanted a dollhouse, he built her a playhouse next to the deck which she meticulously decorated.

The deck leads to another display case on the left side of the house filled with Santa items that Dawn collected.

"She was a Santa person, so this was her Santa village," he said.

Freeman said he plans to continue putting up the annual display as long as he can.

"Partially because I just like doing it," he said, "partially because I don’t want to disappoint people by not putting it up. I’ve got the tiger by the tail here, and I can’t quite let go."

His two great-grandsons, ages 7 and 9, get a kick out of it and sometimes play tour guide for visitors.

Freeman has more than a dozen guest books that his wife kept over the years, with handwritten notes from visitors from Germany, Australia, Japan and throughout the isles. There is even a note from actress Michelle Pfeiffer, who used to own a home in the neighborhood.

Freeman remembers earlier days when large groups of people would walk around the neighborhood just to see the Christmas lights as part of an annual community event. Nowadays there seem to be fewer people who are into holiday displays.

The greatest reward, he said, is hearing the sounds of delight from children who come by to see his yard.

"A lot of old folks don’t like to hear little kids running around, but I love it," he said.

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