Seville Christmas lights endure in Yarra Valley after community help Will Eastmure decorate
Families have enjoyed one Yarra Valley man’s heartwarming Christmas displays for decades, but the 78-year-old almost couldn’t deliver this year. Then some of his legion of fans stepped in.
Outer East
Don't miss out on the headlines from Outer East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The true meaning of Christmas spirit can be found in the house on the hill in Seville.
For many Yarra Valley families, visiting Will Eastmure’s home to see the festive lights and enchanting decorations has become part of their Christmas ritual growing up.
Now it is shaping how their children experience Christmas.
But the lights almost went out on Mr Eastmure’s 21-year legacy this year after both his knees began to buckle.
With only half his .60ha Warburton Highway property decorated, the 78-year-old couldn’t finish the job and posted on the Yarra Valley Noticeboard letting the community know he had decided to sell his decorations and this was his last “hurrah”.
“My knees were shot and my mobility was becoming non-existent,” he said.
“I started doing it and half way through I couldn’t keep going. I aborted it and put a notice up saying I couldn’t do it.”
Mr Eastmure received an influx of messages, and after two working bees, the decorations will today be unveiled.
For the grandfather, seeing the looks on the faces of children and their parents brings him joy.
On weekends he supplies a sausage sizzle, lollies, Christmas cake and even shares a wine with the adults as families enjoy walking around his display of Lemax Christmas villages and special decorations.
He has hundreds of stories from his two decades of inviting the community to enjoy his festive celebrations including one about a woman who would sit every year for hours in his garden, who came to “forget the world and sit in wonderland”.
The tradition started after he and his wife bought their house on the hill in 1999 and Mr Eastmure decided to decorate the roof with lights.
“The little boy in me came out and said we need lights,” he said.
“I put them on the roof and walked down the driveway to have a look when a car pulled up with kids in their pyjamas.
“The boy said to me ‘Mister, mister can we come in please’ – I let them in and they stayed for an hour and a half.”
Soon another 25 cars pulled up, and the tradition was born.
In March 2018, Mr Eastmure’s wife Susan died.
She had developed idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis – a rare lung disease – but after undergoing a lung transplant, her body eventually rejected the organs.
Last Christmas was dedicated to Susan.
MORE NEWS: A TRIP DURING A WORKPLACE FIRE DRILL ENDS IN COURT
LIGHTNING SPARKS THREE BUSHFIRES IN DANDENONG RANGES
BATTLE OVER KNOX LAKE PROPOSAL RUMBLES ALONG
Mr Eastmure leaves a tin for anyone who would like to donate some coins while they visit his property.
“I put a donation box down and for years I gave the money to Very Special Kids – over $12,000,” he said. “The last few years I gave to Seville CFA.”
This year he is planning on splitting the donations between a Yarra Junction church who feed the needy and half to an over-50s group who help provide company for older people in the Yarra Valley.
Next year’s celebrations are dependent on whether his knee replacement surgery is successful