Archives for December 2011

UPDATE (4:47 PM): The Candy Cane Lane community found themselves a new Grinch on eBay this afternoon. And KING5’s Allen Schauffler will be reporting on the vandalism tonight at 5 PM. We’ll link to the footage here when it becomes available.

UPDATE (7:49 PM): Here’s the segment on the Candy Cane Lane vandalism from tonight’s KING 5 News at 5:

Candy Cane Lane was visited by real life Grinches late Saturday night. At least two of the decorated homes’ had decorations destroyed, among them inflatable Grinch at the entrance to the annual neighborhood light show.

[ABOVE] The Gross family’s Candy Cane Lane display, featured in last year’s Seattle Times piece on the neighborhood’s annual light display, is now missing its centerpiece.

We talked with Candy Cane Lane resident Tracey Sconyers on Sunday night about the vandalism. Her “Toy Shop” home has often been the target for some late night redecorating shenanigans — names added to the “Naughty List,” the reindeer placed in compromising positions — but never theft and destruction.

“This was a very different level of vandalism that happened,” she said. “They were out to destroy things.”

Sconyers herself happened to be up late Saturday night, as her daughters were having a sleepover with some of their friends. Around midnight, after the light show had been turned off, she heard some “unusually mean” talk about the street coming from outside her house.

Looking out the window in her front door, she could see three or four people, older than high school age, walking by, “trash talking the street.” These individuals even walked onto the porch of a neighbor’s house before getting into a white stretch SUV-style limo that had been seen driving down the lane during the light show a couple hours before.

No vandalism had occurred at that time. But Sunday morning, many of the Sconyer’s home’s decorations had been destroyed or stolen. And the inflatable Grinch, a local holiday icon for many local kids and their families, was missing. All that was left of him in the Gross family yard near the entrance to Candy Cane Lane where some shredded pieces of fabric and bare wires.

It is not known whether the white limo’s occupants are to blame for the incident, but the coincidence is a tough one for Sconyers to ignore.

The show must go on

After a successful community sale earlier in the year, the neighborhood has enough money to replace missing or destroyed decorations; however, the Grinch was around 10 years old, and came with the house.

If anyone happens to own a festive inflatable Grinch, the neighborhood is very interested in replacing the one that was destroyed. Otherwise help in the form of donations to Northwest Harvest are greatly appreciated.

Candy Cane Lane (NE Park Rd) is open now through New Years Eve. Hours for the lights are 4-11 PM, and until midnight on Christmas Eve and New Years.

This year, the area elementary school-aged girls have created the “Candy Cane Club” and will be passing out candy canes on the weekends. Warm drinks can be purchased at the nearby neighborhood grocery store, Boulevard Grocery, at Ravenna Blvd and 20th Avenue NE.

Donations for Northwest Harvest are collected at the exit of the lane.