HAMPDEN – A quiet side street in Hampden has been drawing in carfuls of families every holiday season since the early 1980s.

Nearly every house on Greenleaf Drive is decorated with Christmas lights and large – sometimes life–sized – painted, wooden cutouts.

After the sun sets, a steady stream of cars snakes down one side of Greenleaf Drive, taking in the joyful depictions of Christmas movies and memories, and loops around the cul–de–sac at the end of the block and enjoy the decorations on the opposite side of the street on their way out.

Chet Kapinos said he and his wife Claudia Kapinos have been decorating their home for the holidays since they moved in 47 years ago.

“We used to have a lot of fun back in the early 80s,” Kapinos said. At that time, between 12 and 15 children were living on the street. “It’s all about the kids, you know,” he said.

Kapinos told Reminder Publishing about dressing up as Rocky Racoon, while neighbors would dress as Santa, Mrs. Claus, Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and “Snowball” the polar bear.

“We’d stand out there waving at the kids in the cars,” Kapinos said. He explained that a bus of children with developmental disabilities that would drive through the neighborhood to see the decorations.

One year, he and the neighbor dressed as Santa boarded the bus, and asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas. He said one girl, who asked for a doll, looked at Santa with joy and wonder.

“The look on that girl’s face,” Chet tearfully recalled. “I’d have given $100 just to give her that doll.”

Victor Nardacci lives a few houses down from the Kapinoses. His family and friends gave him “a dump truck full of Christmas lights,” when he moved into his house eight years ago. The neighborhood had a reputation, Nardacci said. “This is the original Bright Nights,” he said.

“When we first started [decorating], it was maybe $30,” in extra electricity per month. Since switching to LED lights, however, he said the cost was negligible.

Nardacci said that he noticed most of the cutouts were of classic holiday characters from 30 years ago or more. He decided to put up characters from newer movies, including Minions from “Despicable Me,” Olaf from “Frozen” and Nemo and Dory from “Finding Nemo.”

“We brought the more modern ones in,” he said. His sister–in–law drew the characters and he said friends helped paint them.

Now, storing the decorations takes up three-quarters of Nardacci’s basement, he said.

One thing that Nardacci said he enjoys is that decorating is a community event, and neighbors often work on their displays at the same time, calling out across the street to each other.

Nardacci said that one neighbor commented that the house next to his – whose owners are both in a senior care facility – looked noticeably dark amid the lights on the street.

Nardacci took matters into his own hands. He ran an extension cord to his neighbor’s lawn and, using a staple gun and some plywood, created a light–up sign for them that simply reads, “Ditto.” The tongue–in–cheek decoration was an instant hit in the neighborhood and on social media community forums.

Despite nearly every house on the street participating in the decorations, both Nardacci and Kapinos say there is no competition between neighbors. Nardacci said he had thought of syncing his lights to a radio station the way Bright Nights does. In the end, though, he decided to stay true to the classic decorations that have made his street a holiday destination for nearly 50 years.