Oh the weather outside is frightful “” or at least relatively chilly “” but that’s not stopping peninsula residents from taking an evening stroll to enjoy the Christmas lights on Garrison Street. Collectively rivaling Clark Griswold’s blinding display, the block between Chatsworth Boulevard and Garrison Place burns through its share of electrical cords each year, generating extreme electric bills and endless holiday cheer.
Despite its lack of structure “” there is no steering committee to guide residents in their annual pursuit of illumination, no publicity encouraging San Diegans to visit the spectacle, nor any money to be made from the attraction “” the Garrison Street lights continue to thrive as an unlikely tradition.
For the past 18 years, the mother/daughter team of Nazare Caboz and Carolynn Freitas, neighbors on Garrison, has spent endless amounts of time and money to brighten their street.
“We started out with just a small nativity scene,” Freitas said of the now elaborate decorations. “Then a Santa in the window, and then it went to the angels in the windows, then it was the Mickey characters in the window and every year we tend to add something.”
Freitas explained that part of the fun behind the ever-expanding displays comes from friendly competition between herself and Caboz.
“My mom and I go back and forth,” Freitas said. “She’ll buy something and show it to me and then the next day I’ll get something bigger.”
While originally a family tradition for the Caboz-Freitas clan, new neighbors over the years have joined in the fun, which seems to be increasing at an exponential rate.
“We purchased our home in 1998,” said Garrison Street resident Evelyn Feliciano. “John [Freitas] came over and said, ‘You know, you have to decorate now for Christmas,’ and we said, ‘Sure.’ We just started doing it then everybody else just kind of followed suit.”
Passersby can see the attention to detail and care that was put into each home’s display. Many begin preparing for the festival of lights on Nov. 1, just early enough to ensure completion for the first lighting on Thanksgiving Day.

“If we go non-stop, [it takes] about a week,” Feliciano said of placing the decorations.
Freitas explained that helping hands are always welcome and needed. Family friends and relatives join the effort and assist with lights and designing window displays.
Many houses don’t limit themselves to lights alone and invest in big blow-up displays of Santa, reindeer, snowmen and other Christmas icons.
“The kids love it,” said Teresa Garner, a Point Loma resident who drove to Garrison Street to walk the area, as her daughter ran up to one house with an elaborate Disney display shouting, “Mickey!”
Mickey and friends, along with traditional Nativity scenes, are staples of Garrison Street and can be found at many of the homes.
At one house, Santa enjoys some fishing in a tree; at another, he takes a break from delivering presents to indulge in a round of Texas Hold’em with some reindeer; and still further down the street, Santa is stuck delivering presents to an igloo home, his legs flailing about.
Point Loma resident Matt Wallace brought his young son to enjoy the lights and reminisce about his childhood.
“I used to walk this street to go to school,” he said. “That corner right down there was the fight spot!”
Freitas said it’s not uncommon to see a retirement home tour bus or a horse and carriage.
“The fondest memories that come from the lighting is seeing the little ones and seeing the older people,” she said.
Freitas recently added a more somber display dedicated to the memory of lost firefighters, police officers and other war heroes.

“That is probably the window that gets the most comments,” she said, “because we get the war vets and they’ll leave a note or they’ll ring the bell and they’ll say, ‘That really means a lot to us,’ which is very touching, extremely touching.”
While the display windows do get a lot of attention, blow-ups seem to draw the most, as children frequently rush towards the billowing fabric. But according to Feliciano, kids are not the only ones drawn to the blow-ups.
“Sometimes kids go out and come by and they think its funny to kick down the items, the decorations. But the vandalism, that’s just a small little part,” she said. “We just overlook that and replace the items and continue to grow. It’s to bring happiness to people.”
The residents of Garrison Street also decorate, albeit on a smaller scale, for Halloween and Easter, though the most elaborate display by far takes place during the Christmas season.
The lights are turned on at dusk every evening and turned off between 11 p.m. and midnight. The display will remain in place until Jan. 5.
On Christmas eve, neighborhood children sell homemade cookies and hot chocolate to visitors as part of a bake sale organized by the Ybarra family. All proceeds are donated to the Rady Children’s Hospital.
“You know those weeks when you’re tired and it’s cold and it’s damp outside and you’re going, oh my goodness, this is so much work, but truly from the bottom of our hearts, once it’s completed it’s a source of pride,” Freitas said. “If I can make one person happy today, then it’s worth every bit of work that this is.”