For the past sixteen years, Owen Holman treated the rest of Shreveport/Bossier to an incredible Christmas light show.

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This year, no one will be able to drive by and witness the marvels of his lights with synchronized music as we celebrate the Christmas season. The effort first began in 2006, but after the complaints of neighbors, he and his family have decided to cancel this year's show.

According to the complaints, the display was up too late each night and the Christmas Eve showing caused traffic issues with so many other vehicles in the neighborhood for the holiday.

Granted, while Owen's display didn't rival that of Clark Griswold's, it probably did present its own set of obstacles.

So, before we throw Owen's neighbors to the wolves, let's consider that Owen's display was truly an "attraction" meaning that loads of cars who wouldn't normally be in the area were choking down the streets as people casually oohed and aahed as they drove by.

This could certainly be a concern, especially if one of the neighbors had a medical emergency and was unable to get out of their own neighborhood to receive timely medical care.

However, as Owen wrote on his Facebook page, one of the neighbors' complaints was that the light show "caused lower property values in our neighborhood."

While I'm certainly no real estate expert, I can't imagine that a Christmas light display that lasts four weeks of the year could be the reason that property values were lowered. I'd bet the farm that one's totally off base.

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Of course, the Holman residence isn't the only case where a Christmas display has caused division in a community.  There have been cases in Ohio, Oklahoma, Mississippi and according to the Reeves Law Group, there was a big case in Florida:

In 2014 the city of Plantation, Florida sued the Hyatt family on the grounds that the "carnival-like atmosphere" was incompatible with the neighborhood. Neighbors said strangers knocked on their doors asking to use the bathroom, cut through their property to see the display and left trash in the street.

As we continue to pan out away from Owen's neighborhood and examine all of Shreveport/Bossier, aren't we seeing less and less in the way of Christmas displays?

My wife laid down the law for our family years ago. Christmas lights would be on the house no later than Black Friday each year. To this day, my sons and I have never let her down. But, this year we did notice that a growing number of others haven't been as vigilant.

One of my sons lives in a neighborhood on the south side of Haughton and on a recent visit to his home, I was startled to see that his was the only house with lights.

It can't be because of the area, as the Forest Hills subdivision in Haughton has probably the most houses lit up than any other, so why were no others participating?

Have other Karens complained and people felt it wasn't worth the effort? Have we lost the spirit of the Christmases of past?

Have we forgotten what we're celebrating? It's the anniversary of the birth of our Lord and Savior. It should be the biggest party of the year.

Just take a look at these pics of the Top 25 Christmas Displays across America and it's obvious that some people still get it.

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