MONTAGUE — The house at 8411 Old Channel Trail caught the attention of many White Lake residents 30 years ago when owners Rodney and Margaret Vanderstelt began decorating their yard for Christmas with dozens of snowmen.
“I would say it was the first year there was a couple at the top of the Dowling (Street) hill,” Margaret Vanderstelt said. “They came down and asked if they could take a picture of their dog with the snowmen. In the picture, the dog had its nose touching the snowman’s carrot. It was the cutest picture. That started to get more people’s attention.”
The amount of people who would go out of their way to see the couple’s display was surprising to them. It has since become a staple when viewing Christmas lights in White Lake.
“It really surprised us, the amount of people who started making it a point to check out our decorations,” said Margaret. “It made us feel good. We would get them all up and right away, we would notice people stopping to take pictures, putting their kids in front of the snowmen. It was worth it, putting them all out.”
Since the Vanderstelts noticed the growing crowds their display was attracting, their decorations have only grown and their display has gotten bigger. The couple has also been getting more attention for their Halloween display in recent years, with a large decorative cemetery taking over their front yard.
“This year, my husband said he wasn’t buying any more Christmas stuff,” Margaret said. “Well, we ended up with three big Bernese Mountain dogs on the front porch that light up. They remind me of Nana from ‘Peter Pan.’ I said, ‘I thought we weren’t buying anymore,’ and Rodney said, ‘well, these are just so cute.’”
This past summer, some neighbors became concerned when they noticed a “for sale” sign in the Vanderstelts’ yard.
“This past summer, we actually had our house for sale,” said Margaret. “We were trying to find something a little smaller. People who were driving by were so concerned about what was going to happen to the snowmen. As I took the house off the market, we had a bunch of really happy people that would stop and tell us how glad they were that we took the house off the market and would double check to make sure we were still going to put the snowmen back up.”
The couple assures the community whether they ultimately move or not, the snowmen and other Christmas decorations will continue to be displayed every year.
