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Christmas display a final sad farewell for Waldorf man
Colorful tradition ends with foreclosure
Friday, Dec. 19, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo File photo by GARY SMITH
This is the final year for James Atwell's annual elaborate Christmas display on Pinefield Way in Waldorf. Bad luck and the poor economy have forced his home into foreclosure.
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If you've driven past Pinefield Way in Waldorf during the holiday season in the last few years, chances are you caught a glimpse of James Atwell's gigantic festive light display.
The riot of string lights and yard ornaments, inflatable and otherwise, has been a fixture on the street for nearly a decade.
But, if you've never seen it, this will be the last year to catch the show.
Atwell told the Maryland Independent on Wednesday that he is losing his house to foreclosure and plans to give all the lights to charity after Christmas.
"I just wanted everyone to know that this is the last year," Atwell said.
Atwell believes that the home he has lived in for the last 10 years will go into foreclosure proceedings early next year. He said he owes $95,000 on three mortgages that he acknowledged he hasn't been able to pay for the last year. He said he was lured into bad subprime loans and then lost a lot of money on the stock market in the recent downturn.
"I don't feel sorry for myself," Atwell said. "I got myself into this. … The judgments are just piling up. … I never dreamed I would be like this."
Atwell said he started hanging the lights as he was taking care of his dying mother.
"This was my way to relieve the anger and anxiety of losing my parents," he said.
In recent years, Atwell said his lights have attracted 30,000 cars full of onlookers each season, and he estimated that 7 percent of the viewers donated money to help him pay for the electricity.
"I want to thank them for the donations and thank them for coming by," he said.
Atwell said he would like to donate his light collection to any "legitimate nonprofits" before an auctioneer comes in February to liquidate his belongings. However, he hopes whoever takes the lights will still allow him to help set them up every year.
