Mark and Melba Phillips don’t merely get pumped up about the holidays. They literally get out the air pump – and use it to blow up the inflatable lawn decorations that have become a year round tradition at their Burlington home.
Whether it’s yuletide, Easter, or the mid summer doldrums, the Phillipses manage to find some worthy occasion to schlep their festive array of inflatables out of storage. Right now, with Independence Day just around the corner, the couple has turned their yard along May Drive into a red, white, and blue bonanza – which features bald eagles and other patriotic mainstays, along with Disney and Peanuts characters in seasonally appropriate attire.
Melba Phillips recalls that she and her husband have indulged in these holiday displays throughout the 10 years they’ve lived on May Drive – and before that, at their previous home along Dorsett Street. Although both she and her husband are now in their 70s, and are increasingly feeling their age, Phillips insist that she and her husband will continue this tradition as long as they’re able.
“We want to bring joy to the neighborhood,” she elaborated when a reporter from The Alamance News dropped by on Tuesday, “and we get a lot of positive comments. Some people leave letters in our mail box. Others get out of their cars to take a look and tell us how much they like what they see.”
It didn’t take long for the truth of the homeowner’s account to be born out that afternoon.
Just as the visiting reporter was preparing to take some parting shots before heading back to the office, a chance passer-by pulled into the Phillips’ driveway to get a closer look at the eye-catching inflatables.
