Leon’s lights make Raynham glow for holidays

Leon Mathieus Christmas tree is usually the last thing he puts up during the holiday season.

Before that come the 11,000 lights, 22 inflatable displays and everything else that goes into making his lawn one of the brightest and most festive in Raynham each year.

When my wife and I first started it about 11 years ago, we had one blow-up and then the next year we would add another one and then we progressed that way, and then the kids came into our lives, said Mathieu, 51. Then we starting going from one per year and we started buying multiple per year.

The South Main St. lawn is chock full of characters on display from his 12-foot-tall Mickey Mouse, clad in a Santa costume, to his newest addition, a reindeer driving a steamroller that ran over grandma.

His friends say he gives Clark Griswold, from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation a run for his money.

Thats the running joke, our friends will call me Clark, Mathieu said.

Another new addition to Leons display is a purple and white cancer awareness ribbon he made out of plywood, hanging from a tree in his backyard. The ribbon is adorned with more than 250 lights.

I just made that a couple weeks ago, he said of the ribbon. That might be one that stays up year-round. I havent decided yet. I went into a store and I found some purple lights and then I bought the white twinkling lights to outline it.

Ive been a cancer patient since the early 80s, Mathieu said. Back then, I had a form of bone cancer. Three years ago I had the better part of three organs removed. I came down with the same type of cancer that Steve Jobs had. I had a neuroendocrine tumor in my pancreas, and at the end of this summer we found that it has spread to my liver.

These days it takes him a little longer to set up his display as he tires easily. He has always kept a positive attitude, however.

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Leon’s lights make Raynham glow for holidays