Kenosha natives Dale and Barbara Wiegele receive countless compliments for their spectacular Christmas display that’s provided over 25 years of holiday spirit at their southside residence.
And the high praise doesn’t end in January.
“It’s all year long,” Barbara Wiegele said. “We’ll be out mowing the lawn and someone will yell ‘I love your house at Christmas!’”
The compliments continue in October when veteran trick-or-treaters stop at the beautiful, brown cedar house for full-size candy bars.
“When they come to the door, parents will tell us they can’t wait to see our house at Christmas,” Dale Wiegele said. “It’s a lot of fun. And a lot of pressure. You don’t want to disappoint.”
Capturing nearly 600 of the 2,485 votes in Kenosha.com‘s annual Holiday Spirit Contest, the Wiegeles’ winter wonderland is this year’s overall winner. The house, located at 7951 33rd Ave., features over 25,000 LED lights and is customized each year with a variety of decor.
Dale Wiegele, a 1979 Tremper High School graduate, has been accumulating new lights and decorations since he had the property built in 1996. A custom Christmas tree display was added to the south side of the home this year.
One popular piece, which appears every few years, is Santa flying an airplane pulling a 20-foot “Happy Holidays” banner.
“We started decorating 35 years ago when our kids (Brian Wiegele and Brenda Popp) were little,” Dale said. “When we built this house in 1996, we already amassed a lot of lights.”
The Wiegeles’ biggest struggle was having too many lights.
“Those incandescent bulbs draw a lot of current,” Dale said. “You’d hit the garage door opener and the power would go out. We battled that for years. We eventually switched it over to LEDs and that’s worked out great. We don’t have to measure current anymore.”
Dale and Barbara grew up just blocks from their home, known by many local residents as “The Gingerbread House.” Childhood sweethearts and married for 40 years, Barbara is a longtime Kenosha Unified School District educator and Dale is a product designer for BRP in Sturtevant.
Decorating during the holidays has always brought special memories to their lives.
“Every year it gets a little harder, but we enjoy doing it,” Dale said. “We’ll probably retire in a couple of years. We often joke we’ll put our house for sale at Christmas time and say it’s being sold ‘as-is’.”
7951 33rd Ave. – 588 votes
Owners: Dale and Barbara Wiegele
6834 106th Ave. – 463 votes
Owners: James and Carri Kiehl
6409 103rd Ave. – 227 votes
Owners: Henry and Addie Spates
1913 30th St. – 210 votes
Owners: Jordan and Rayna Murry
5708 68th St. – 163 votes
Owner: Michael and Alyssa Sturino
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