Musson’s lights undimmed, even in death

Doug Musson worried that the little bit of water leaking from the roof of his house might trickle down on people visiting the backyard part of his Christmas lights display.

The overall display, covering the entire property, consists of hundreds of bulbs, miles of cable and a sprawling infrastructure of quarterinch metal rods welded into shapes — motorcycle, castle, reindeer, etc. — around which ropes of flickering colour are coiled.

At night, the place on Spruce Ave. in Burlington is lit up like an ocean liner. It’s famous, attracting thousands from as far away as Toronto and beyond.

It was Doug’s living pride, and the delighted faces, on the thousands of children and adult children who’d visit and gawk, were his constant joy.

I say “was” and “were” because, to fix that leak, for the visitors’ sake, he climbed onto a ladder. With a shovel, up the tree in the backyard, to shake ice and snow from the gutter on the roof. He was 82.

He fell, the ladder along with him, from a height of about eight metres, his son Scott estimates. Scott was on the ground trying to find the source of the leak from there.

“I saw a branch broken, the ladder upside down in the cedar tree, the shovel in the bush,” says Scott, and his father on the ground. Doug died in hospital a short time later. That was Monday.

“He wasn’t supposed to go up there,” says Scott.

“But he thought the leak was going to drip on people’s heads. He was the most caring person you’d ever come across.”

That’s how Scott would like his father to be remembered.

“He didn’t care about ‘nice’ stuff or material things. He couldn’t care less. He was happy working all day (which he did at Quinte Plastics, the company he co-owned, until his death) and watching TV with mom (Joanne).”

And, of course, he was most happy adding to, fine-tuning, installing the Mussons’ legendary Christmas light show. He and Scott, 56, would do it together. Every year for the last 30 years.

Doug got up on the ladder and the tree, says Scott, because he was fearless of heights. He was robust, in good shape. And, of course, he would spare no effort for his lights. Wouldn’t tie himself off. For years he had scampered across the roof like a mountain goat, putting up lights. So it was second nature.

But I remember Doug telling me in December 2014, on the same couch in his living room where I sat yesterday talking to Scott, how he’d almost called the light show quits that year. Why?

“My knees can’t take the roof work,” Doug told me. He was 79 then and I was interviewing him for a column.

Not long before, the light show was almost nixed for other reasons. Burlington council entertained a request to ban such displays. The request came from a contingent concerned about traffic and noise. The vote was seven to zero, for the lights.

Despite his knee concerns, Doug and Scott went ahead that year, such was the clamour they heard when people found out they were thinking of not doing it.

Scott, despite his fear of heights, agreed to do the high stuff after security ropes were installed. But there was no keeping Doug down for very long.

“Dad was the backbone of this family,” Scott says. “And mom is the strength. None of us are dealing very well with it right now.”

They are shaken to their core. But as soon as word of Doug’s passing began to circulate, reaction was immediate and since it’s been overpowering.

“We found flowers on our lawn,” Scott says.

“People we don’t know started a GoFundMe campaign.” There are at least two now. They have raised almost $15,000 already. The messages of condolence and memory have been countless.

Even Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring held a media conference, with much Toronto media present, such has been the far-flung interest.

“It has taken some of the sting off of it, knowing that we’re not going through this alone,” says Scott.

(In case you’re wondering about the motorcycle — that’s in memory of Cam, Doug’s son, whom they lost years ago in an accident; a car ran a stop sign.) The Hamilton Spectator