John Reichart wants his wife to have as many good memories as possible to hold onto, so he transformed his entire block into a winter wonderland.
Reichart, 74, decorated every house around him in Indianoloa, Iowa, as a gift for his wife of 53 years, Joan, who loves Christmas and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s four years ago.
“It’s a memory for her. I love her with all my heart and soul and I would do anything within my power to make her happy,” the U.S. Marine veteran told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.
“She wanted Christmas, so I gave it to her.”
Getting ‘er done
To make his vision come to life, Reichart first had to get buy-in from his neighbours.
“Everybody was in favour. They said, let’s get ‘er done,” Reichart said with a chuckle. “It was just an amazing thing.”
And he did, indeed, get ‘er done, one house at a time over the course of two months.
“It took a while because I’m nursing a bad foot,” he said. “But I’d go down the street with my little power wheelchair, pulling the wagon with Christmas decorations, ornaments, and stuff on it.”
He hired professionals for some of the more complicated light installations, he said.
Reichart says all his neighbours supported his big project, which was two months in the making. (Mary Ewurs)
The final result? A street lined with nearly three-metre tall Christmas trees on both sides, houses decked out with lights customized to each neighbour’s liking, and ornaments as far as the eye can see.
“It’s very bright and it’s very beautiful,” Reichart’s neighbour, Frank Ewurs, told CBC.
Ewurs says that while Reichart may have been doing it for Joan, he really gave a gift to the entire community.
“It’s brought a lot of our neighbours together that normally don’t get outside and talk to each other,” said Ewurs, who has taken to dressing as Santa Claus and handing out candy canes to passersby. “I just think it’s amazing.”
John and Joan Reichart spend their evenings in their garage next to a heater chatting with neighbours and newcomers who come to look at the lights. (Submitted by Mandy Ewurs)
The impact goes beyond the block with people coming from all over town, and as far as neighbouring Des Moines, to take it all in.
“People drive by here every single night,” Reichart said. “I sit out there with a big heater in the garage, me and my wife, and I stop people and make them come in for a hot chocolate. And I make the best hot chocolate around. I do.”
“It is pretty good,” Ewurs confirmed.
‘I’m glad he did it,’ says Joan. ‘I love him’
As for Joan, Reichart admits it’s not always easy to tell how she feels about it all.
“She’s at a point in her life where it’s hard to get a grin out of her because of the condition that she’s in. But I can look at her, and she’ll say it looks pretty. And I know what that means to me,” he said.
When asked by CBS News about her husband’s gift, Joan said: “I didn’t know what to think. But I’m glad he did it. I love him.”
Photos of Joan and John Reichart in their Indianola home. Joan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s four years ago. (Submitted by Mandy Ewurs)
Ewurs says he just wants to give back to Reichart for helping build community in the neighbourhood.
He created a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help cover the costs of the decorations, titled “Donate to John’s Heartwarming Christmas Display.” He also set up a P.O. Box so people from all over the world can send Christmas cards to the couple:
John and Joan Reichart
C/o Frank Ewurs
P.O. Box 133
Indianola, IA 50125
Reichart, meanwhile, says he did it all for the love of his wife — and a passion for Christmas.
“It’s just a joyous time of year, and we need a lot of that right now,” he said. “With everything that’s going crazy, we need some cheer and some happiness and joy in our lives.”
WATCH | John Reichart decorates the neighbourhood: 
U.S. marine veteran John Reichart of Indianola, Iowa, recounts the moment he decorated his entire block to give his wife with Alzheimer’s a Christmas memory.
