Caswell County light display a sure sign of holidays on the way

By Bernard Baker

Published: November 30, 2008

The annual trek to Leon and Ann Paschal’s Christmas wonderland went off with just a few hitches Thanksgiving evening.

People showed up as usual, as they have for years to see 1.5 million Christmas lights at the couple’s home. In 2004, they had a little more than1 million lights and all types of Christmas decorations. Paschal said they started with 100 lights in the log cabin they used to live in back in the 1970s.

What has changed at the Paschal’s home is each tree gets different lights each year. He’s added a couple of attractions this Christmas — at least one new train and one large tree has new lights. Ann Paschal makes coffee and hot chocolate for people who come by. She’s served as many as 400 cups of hot chocolate in one night.

“We get a lot from Virginia to come down and see what we do,” Leon Paschal said. “I’d say most of the people we get come from Danville.”

Ann Paschal said they’ve had people from Richmond and Georgia show up since the display opened.

The display opens each day at 5:30 p.m. and closes at 10 p.m. Leon Paschal said there was a larger than normal crowd Friday. He said the day after Thanksgiving is usually a slow day because people are out shopping.

“Not this year,” he said. “We had people here until 11:30.”

The Paschals asked people not to block their neighbor’s driveways in order to see the display. You can stay in your car and drive through the display.

The lights will came on Thanksgiving Day and will be available for viewing each night until 10 p.m. through the end of the year.

Paschal said his electricity bill has topped $11,000 to light the display. He said donations pay all the bills.

“Without it, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” he said.

To get there, take US 158. At the flashing caution light in Casville, turn onto Ashland Road. The display is about one-half mile on the left at 609 Ashland Road.