Staff writer
Odds’n Ends owner Peni Ens loves lights, and there’s no clearer sign of that then to drive by the business on Main St. and see it decked out in holiday flair.
“You can tell that I love Christmas lights,” Ens said.
Ens described her love of Christmas lights as coming from how they are like life.
“You have a Christmas tree and if there are no lights on it, it can look dead,” Ens said. “When you put lights on it, it comes to life. It’s a good feeling.”
The lighting of Odds’n Ends came from a family visit to Virginia Beach, where Ens said her family visited botanical gardens and saw their lights.
“Wichita is doing one, too, but we didn’t get to go,” Ens said.
To plan a display like Odds’n Ends takes up to a month, Ens said.
“Once you start doing it you can get it done in a day,” Ens said, “but I usually try to do it in phases.”
Ens also likes to keep the lights going past the month of Christmas.
“You take all your Christmas lights down in December, then January can look dull, so I like to do things with snowflakes and snow in January with the lights,” Ens said, “if it’s not too cold.”
Also in January, Ens said, is her annual trip to markets in Dallas to buy new items for the store, where she will also begin to look for display lights for next year.
“You can’t get funky lights in regular stores, so when we go to markets in January, I will look for those,” Ens said, “so who knows what next year might bring.”