Posted: 12/13/2004 4:48:42 PM EDT
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www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/11754676p-12639610c.html Nothing says happy holidays like, well, a 48-foot American soldier fashioned from rebar and 4,000 feet of twinkling lights. At least in Larry Hamilton's mind. The Lodi man spent Sunday polishing off his contribution to the Delta skyline, piecing together the framework of the latest in his series of electrified, high-rise holiday spectacles. After jostling with a crane for nearly an hour to raise G.I. Joe over the Tower Park Marina, Hamilton, 52, stepped back from his driveway and gazed skyward as his son, Tony, flipped the switch. "Tony, the lights aren't on," he said, scanning the darkened soldier's midriff in the fading sunlight. Eventually, the presumably male soldier twinkled to life, green lights for the uniform, white lights for his face and hands and blue for his rifle - apparently no one manufactures gunmetal gray lights. The soldier is a muscled-looking guy, poised so he appears to be stepping onto Hamilton's carport roof, clutching the rifle. Hamilton's wife, Laura, watching the lighting ceremony, said the family isn't looking for any political debates in choosing this year's theme. It was just a way to honor American soldiers who won't be home for the holidays, she said. "Our support is for the military. That's all," she said. Hamilton and his family live in a remote cluster of manufactured homes five miles west of Interstate 5 on Highway 12. On Sunday, his neighbors and friends gathered in his cul-de-sac, some toasting the soldier with Bud Lights. Many are veterans of hours of light-stringing on the soldier's frame. They love it. Neighbors gussy up the rest of the narrow streets with lights, and this year, they twined red, white and blue ones around their mailbox posts to promote the theme, said Mariann Timms, 46, Hamilton's neighbor. The Hamiltons are no amateurs   Pretty cool huh? Sgatr15 |
+1 City gave us a 4 year time limit to tear down our car port, despite the fact that it was legal when we installed it. We're giving them 4 years to go screw themselves. |
