Lighting up the lawn

Square footage at 221 Magnolia St. in the Cahaba Project is running out, but that’s not stopping the Latham family from adding new pieces to the Christmas collection on their lawn. 

Bill and Tricia Latham started their collection when they bought their home in 1990. At the time, they had only a Santa Claus and three reindeer — each one displaying the name for a member of the family, including kids Casey and Ty. But their traditions have since grown during 37 years of marriage. 

Today, the Lathams’ twinkling lights can be seen long before you reach their house, and one needs more than a few seconds of lingering to see everything: both new and old characters including elves and Santa, Charlie Brown, toy soldiers, Olaf from “Frozen,” the Grinch, characters from “A Christmas Story,” the three wise men, Snoopy and much more.  

“Every year we’ve added [decorations],” Bill Latham said. “I don’t know that we’ve ever gone a year without adding something.” 

Their family keeps growing, too. 

“We keep adding reindeer,” Bill Latham said. “Every time we get a new spouse in the family, we add a reindeer.” They’ve also added one for their 1-year-old grandson, Colt. 

Every fall, Tricia decides which character they will add to the lawn. 

“She spends a lot of time looking and deciding what we will add,” Bill Latham said. “Everything out there is homemade and handmade. We went airborne last year with cables running across the yard.” 

Tricia sketches her design onto plywood, and Bill uses a jigsaw to cut it out. Then, the new addition gets painted. The Lathams cherish their family tradition of displaying their decor the day after Thanksgiving. 

“We can get everything done in about one day,” Bill Latham said.

Their Christmas tradition also began because Bill Latham had more free time between the months of November and February. 

A former Major League Baseball pitcher and coach, he is now a recruiter for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but during wintertime, he is away from the baseball world and at home. 

“I’m off that time of year, so it became a tradition,” Bill Latham said. “The kids liked it, and the city seemed to also.” 

During his down time, he also enjoys woodworking beyond creating Christmas decor. He has made most of the furniture in their home. Bill Latham never knew his grandfather, but he inherited some of his woodworking equipment. 

“Right after we got married, I started building little things,” he said. “It got bigger and bigger, and today, I have built a lot of the furniture in my kids’ houses.” 

To date, the family has set the benchmark for the city’s decorated yards, with about 30 pieces that fill their front yard. His favorite items are the reindeer because those represent his family, Bill Latham said. The Grinch is probably the most popular among passersby, he said. 

Bill Latham also treasures the countdown to Christmas sign, one of the first pieces they made. 

“My daughter always changed the sign each day,” he said. “I remember having to hold her hand to walk out there for her to change it. That’s always been my favorite as a dad.”

The Lathams have since renovated their home and added handy feature-plugs and wiring for all of the Christmas lights. Today, they light up their yard with an easy flip of a switch from indoors.

Their long-standing tradition has sparked rituals for other families — a simple drive to look at Christmas lights around town. 

“It affects way more people than you think,” Bill Latham said. “We have fun with it. People ask to take photos in our yard. Little kids have given us cookies — things like that. That’s what it’sall about.”