The Chansky’s Christmas Fantasy

 

JOsie-JOeIt all started in November 1954. My husband Joe and I started to decorate our yard in Honolulu for Christmas. We trimmed trees, shrubs, and hedges with mini-lights. Then the next year I said it looks so nice, why not decorate inside the house also! And so it began…I decorated inside and out, but this time decided to make my own creations and designs out of discarded recycled things. I used egg cartons, pine cones, flip top can rings. Josie2flash cubes, and beer and soda cans. I made chandeliers with clothes hangars and a Christmas tree made of 7,000 green toothpicks. On and on it went. Everything was one of a kind and everything was trimmed with miniature lights. I love lights. And all of a sudden my living room, from floor to ceiling, turned into the most beautiful sight to see! TORN-ALLInteriorAll of the decorations I made from recycled things came alive again!People from the four corners of the world came to view my displays. “Fantastic,” they said. It made me so happy to see the children’s faces light up, eyes wide open with great beaming smiles.

I continued my creations from then on and was so happy to bring great joy to thousands of people.

TORN-ALLExteriorThank God and for the love of God and children we continued every year after. One season, not even counting people outside in the yard, we invited 18–20,000 people inside our home! Some people refused to leave until 2:30 in the morning! And we kept this up at our home on Kauai. This was our gift to all the children and their families on Christmas. To share. To care. To give. And to love. That is a blessing and a joy for me.

Josie-AwardIt is sad to say that when my husband passed on I couldn’t continue our Christmas displays. So, I held a garage sale. Elizabeth Freeman came and she bought so much…so many beautiful things. She said she was going to donate it all to the County so people could still see my decorations. I decided to donate what was left after the sale. Now it can be seen Kauai County Building. God Bless Elizabeth!  I am so happy to know how much I have touched so many people at Christmas time, first at my home, and now at the Historic County Building every Christmas holiday.

Aloha from Kauai, 

Josie Chansky

June 8, 2000