A rare moment on Thanksgiving evening, 2009, when no one was standing in front of Mike Babick's Christmas display. Its a real pleasure to present one of my favorite Christmas Traditions - Mike Babick's animated Christmas display at his home on Falmouth Drive in Prairie Village, Kansas. Although he has been decorating for 40 years, I have visited the house every Christmas season since 1992. Every window of the Babick house is filled with animated Christmas characters, the exterior is skillfully lighted, the garage is Santa's toy shop with dozens more animated figures, and the roof has been covered with a cartoon town with buildings than once had animated lighting. If you step up to the front door and look into the house, you will find Christmas ornaments hanging from the ceiling and even more moving figures filling the walls of the living room. But the memorable Comicville on the Babick roof will not appear this year. A hail storm following the 2008 Christmas ruined Comicville. For 2009, Mike Babick is replacing it with a three dimensional animated town which he estimates will include 32 buildings which will be 35 - 4 feet tall. The buildings will be filled with mechanical people that will be visible through the windows. From Thanksgiving until New Year's Day, the display continues from dusk until around 11PM each evening. Mr. Babick doesn't turn off the lights until no one is around for about 15 minutes. During the early evening, there are always several car loads of people, plus limousines and an occasional bus. So many vehicles go up this otherwise quiet residential street, that it is one way, and evening parking is prohibited in front of the Babick house. The vehicles park up the street and everyone goes up to the house to look in the windows. By the end of the Christmas season, there is no grass left in the front yard. You may even have the opportunity to meet Mike Babick or members of his family.
Johnson
County Christmas Display Guide
copyright 2007-2010 by Keith Stokes |
