Local Christmas decorator shares story of decades-long tradition

PINSON, Tenn. — It’s the time of year where you can find Christmas lights all over West Tennessee. One man has recently been decorating at his house and previously at a building you may recognize.

Just south of Jackson, right off of Highway 45 in Pinson, sits a little old workshop. If you drive by this area frequently, this might be one of the most recognizable buildings in all of West Tennessee for you. Mr. Staley Holder owns this building.

He used to decorate it every single year around Christmas time. It was referred to as the ‘Pinson Lights.’ We sat down with Mr. Holder and spoke with him a little bit about his time decorating this building.

“Santa Clauses, I put them on the roof right there. Everybody said, ‘How do you do that?’ Well, I just do it. I had a guy come by there one time and ask ‘How many Santa Clauses do you got?’ I said, ‘I don’t know,” said Staley Holder, longtime decorator.

Mr. Staley decorates at his house, which is right down the road from his old shop, as it’s a little bit harder to carry his decorations over to the highway. He has some friends and family that help him decorate as well.

“If I didn’t have my sister-in-law and niece I couldn’t have done it this year. I might have struggled through it, but it makes it a lot better if you got help. I just like characters and animated stuff, and stuff like that,” said Holder.

Mr. Holder said he’s going to keep on decorating for as long as he can. As a tip for some younger people if they are wanting to get into this, he says ‘Just do it. Just get started!’

If you want to see a full list of Christmas lights that you can visit in West Tennessee, visit our  ‘2024 Guide to the Holidays in West Tennessee.’

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