Vernon Valley Lake man continues Christmas tradition

VERNON — Vernon Valley Lake resident Bob Winter and his annual Winter Wonderland is up and running once again.

Continuing its 17-year tradition, Winter and his wife, Kathy, work on what needs to be done to turn the front and side yards of their corner home into a crowd pleaser and collection site for those in need. Kathy handles some of the needed repairs to parts of the display and Bob Winter handles the outside decorating.

Winter’s display includes a food donation box, as well as a Toys for Tots drop box. Food donations are given to the food pantry of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, located off Route 94 in the Vernon town center. Winter feels that this year the need for donations is greater than ever before, due to new stories he heard about changes being made to the federal food stamp program.

Toy donations should be unwrapped. Winter delivers the toys to Picatinny Arsenal where they are gift wrapped and then given to needy children in the area.

Winter says he estimates that about 500 families visit his display each season and they are encouraged to leave food donations and even pet supplies, which he brings to the church. At one time, the free food pantry in the lobby of the church was open 24 hours a day, however, due to security issues, the pantry now has limited hours.

Needy families can now go to the pantry on Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. until noon, and on Sundays from 8 a.m. until noon.

Speaking about his display, Winter said in the past it has not been uncommon for families to bring cameras and video equipment with them to take photos of their children. However, visitors are discouraged from entering the yard due to a maze of electrical wires and extension cords and other various potential hazards on the ground.

Winter begins setting it up the display immediately after Halloween and it takes about a month to complete the decorations that include two miniature trains sets mounted on tabletops.

According to Winter, it takes more than 5 minutes to light and power the entire display, which also includes a nativity scene and many holiday-themed characters.