By Cole Tomlin, Staff Writer
Turning onto Ocean Acres Drive and cresting the final hill of the road, your eyes are filled with gleaming lights and cheerful smiles. Welcome to a Christmas paradise that fills both children and adults with uncontrollable joy.
Over the past year, there has been much speculation in the community on whether or not the “Poulos House” would go dark.
“As long as my husband Dennis and I are here, the tradition will go on,” said Diana Mueller, one of Jim Poulos’ three children.
Diana and Dennis, as well as the rest of the Poulos family, have played a huge role in setting up and maintaining the Christmas lights over the past few years, especially when their parents’ health began to decline.
“I would say my husband and I actively took a role in it five years ago,” Diana said. “And then we really became a huge part of it the last two years.”
These past two years have not been the easiest for the Poulos family when it comes to setting up for Christmas. Especially when you take into account the amount of time the family dedicates to preparing everything for visitors to enjoy the festive illuminations.
“It’s fun doing it, but the basement room itself takes around 30 days to set up,” Dennis said.
Family issues have played a huge role in the difficulty of getting everything ready. Last year Ann Poulos passed away. This year, Jim Poulos’ health has caused him to be much less involved in the lights than he has been in the past.
Still, the rest of the family has been able to take inspiration from the parents and get things done the right way for this 40th year on the Outer Banks.
“It was very hard this year,” Diana said. “It’s upsetting, but I know she’s with us. And it hurts that Dad can’t participate the way he wants to either.”
Dennis also feels that Mrs. Poulos has been with them in spirit throughout the process of getting the house ready this year.
“They say that people from your past come back to visit you in the form of butterflies and cardinals,” Dennis said. “We’ve been seeing them all over the place this year.”
Another question posed by the community this year has been what they can do to help the family in these hard times: “It’s nice to see that the community likes to help out because they enjoy coming to the house,” Diana said. “We’ll take any help if they want to help out.”
The Poulos family also has a lot of grandchildren who are now growing up, so they feel confident that the “Poulos House” tradition is here to stay.
“As long as we’ve got anything to do with it and the grandkids are all on board with the tradition, it will live on,” Diana said. “Let’s just say, if it doesn’t work out and the tradition doesn’t move on and I’m still here on the beach, I might as well just pack my stuff and leave, because I’ll be haunted by all of the angry locals.”
Junior Cole Tomlin can be reached at [email protected].
