Candy Cane Lane lights up holidays

Candy Cane Lane is the name given to Dewey Avenue in Redwood City during the Christmas season. Since the 1960s, residents decorate their yards and attract scores of revelers.

Anne Marchi has lived there since the beginning. Her house dons homemade wooden Disney characters from Winnie the Pooh to Shrek.

She said the whole thing started by a man who used to live up the street, Joe Silva. Silva, who didn’t have any children, used to live on a block in San Francisco that really celebrated the season and he wanted to bring it to his new home.

"He would throw a big Christmas Eve party for the kids. Some of the men would dress as clowns. All the parents would send gifts and Santa would distribute them, said Marchi.

The tradition continued for almost 10 years.

Each house put a candy cane in front of their home as part of the decor, giving the street its name.

Before the season even begins neighbors join together to prepare. Marchi said each household puts in $15 for candy canes and a few families around the street pass them out to cars and pedestrian onlookers.

But the block decided to add a little more ambiance with signs to be put over each home’s garage. The signs said Merry Christmas but each in a different language.

Marchi chose Italian, to honor where she was born.

Today not all of the homes still use the banners, with time came tears and wear. Unlike Marchi, new families on the block were handed down a sign assignment from previous owners.

Martha Corrales lives up the street from Marchi, her sign is in Argentinean, a language she doesn’t speak. But Corrales and her family still love and get into the act of decorating each night.

Since the robbery of decorations from the neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, the Corrales family no longer keeps their decorations outside each night. This leaves the family with a set-up routine each night to get ready for the crowd.

The street not only features hundreds of Christmas lights and fun blow-up characters but Christmas music blasting for all to enjoy.<