A patriot in the Bay
Glace Bay woman celebrates every holiday with spectacular displays
By day a lovely house with Canadian flags, but by night a spectacular patriotic display. Irma Marsh’s house at 734 Main St., Glace Bay — decked out for Canada 150 with 50 different sets of lights highlighting her four-storey home — is catching people’s attention.
“Yes I have had a few people call already,” said Marsh, 88.
“We aren’t even finished decorating yet, we still have two big flags to put out,” she said. “My tulips are all red and white and getting ready to open.”
Canada flags and maple leafs that light up are featured in all the front and side windows and sets of candolilers with white and red candles in the rest. Even the skylights are lit up.
“I’ve been all over the place buying Canada 150 decorations,” she said. “At Michaels they call me the Canada Day lady.”
Marsh and her husband the late Coady Marsh — a former mining engineer — always loved to decorate, but began going above and beyond about 20 years ago, putting candolilers sets in all of the windows of their four-storey home at Christmas time.
With 50 sets of candles it did take time turning them all on every night.
“Yes, going floor to floor, room to room,” she said laughing.”
However, in the earlier years their seven children helped.
“It was easy, as everyone had a floor to do,” she said
Then about 15 years ago their son-in-law Evan Moorhouse set up an electronic system, resulting in all the lights being able to be activated through the flick of a switch.
“All the lights could be turned on and off at once.”
However it wasn’t only at Christmas when the house would catch attention, Marsh said they decorate for every holiday including Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Canada Day and Halloween.
Her husband passed away five years ago but Marsh has
carried on the family tradition and has 14 grandchildren and five great- grandchildren when extra hands are needed.
“My daughter, Teresa Marsh, even comes home from Halifax a week early at Christmas to help decorate.”
Other family and friends chip
in, even Marsh’s housekeeper Mary Thomas of Bridgeport.
“I might be doing it to help her but she’s right behind me,” Thomas said. “Everything has to be centered just right or you’re standing there 10 minutes fixing it.”
Thomas said Marsh’s efforts sure don’t go unnoticed as there are always phone calls and often people will be outside taking pictures. Last Christmas, Marsh even received a card from an anonymous person.
“It just said how nice the house is and how they love how she decorates,” Thomas said. “People walking by are always commenting, too.”
The display also caught the eye of Christina Joe, originally of Glace Bay and now of Membertou, who has more than 7,000 followers on her “CheapskateGardener” YouTube channel.
“I was looking for things for Canada 150 for my channel for the fact I like to show everything Cape Breton has going on here, to showcase the pretty things we have.”
She was simply driving through Glace Bay when Marsh’s house caught her eye.
“I thought ‘isn’t that fantastic,’” she said.
“I made my husband Dion drive around it and then I got out of the car and took the video. Then I made him drive around the other way so I could get another angle. I thought, ‘That’s beautiful and that’s effort.’”When people go for effort for things like this I think it’s great.”
Joe stared out creating the channel a few years ago when her grandmother was bedridden.
“She loved seeing my garden so I started it so I could show it to her.”
Joe’s grandmother has since passed away but Joe got thinking there were many others like her grandmother, bedridden and unable to get out to events so posts things she feels may be of interest to others.
Joe’s YouTube video of Marsh’s house can be viewed at
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ULBBkUKgP_I