JERSEYVILLE – Jerseyville doesn’t have the “Village People,” that hail from New York City, but for 48 years it had “The Christmas People” Richard and Una Dunsing.

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Richard and Una Dunsing were a loving couple who both wanted to exemplify the spirit of Christmas with the community’s most spectacular neighborhood lights show each year.

For those who didn’t know, Richard died over the past year after battling lung cancer. Una Dunsing said this will be the last time the lights show will happen. This year, Una, her son and grandson put together 25,000 lights to display one more time in memory of her late husband. The display is visible each night in the 400 block of Lincoln Ave. in Jerseyville.

The first question that comes to the minds of most would be: what did Richard and Una think about the movie “Christmas Vacation,” where Chevy Chase’s character Clark W. Griswold has problems with his 250 strands of lights?

“I have seen ‘Christmas Vacation’ advertised, but we never watched the movie,” Una said. She smiled and then said, “I just know the lights blow during the movie.”

Every year during the holiday season for about the last seven years, a nearby neighbor came and knocked on their backdoor and told them how much he enjoyed the display and he knew how much work must go into it. Each year, he handed Richard and Una a $20 bill to help with their electrical costs and insisted they take it.

“He would always say I know you electric bill must be high during this time of the year and I want to help,” Una said.

Una said it has been difficult losing Richard, the man she was with for nearly five decades.

“Richard was a good man,” Una said. “He started decorating for Christmas because he knew I wanted to do it.”

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Una said eventually the Christmas decorating caught on and became a Jerseyville tradition. People drive slowly through the neighborhood with their children just to see the beautiful neighborhood display. The light display takes considerable work.

The couple would start putting out light strands in October and work on weekends or days off to get it done properly. The most Christmas light bulbs they ever put out was about 30,000.

Richard and Una started small and the display kept growing each year. After Christmas, lights would go on for sale and Richard and Una would purchase some. Richard also visited many yard sales to get the right bargain on lights and thus the nickname “The Christmas People” developed.

When asked if the light display increased her electric bill, Una said yes, probably by about $100 more for December each year, but she said it was worth it to her and her late husband.

Una’s son was transferred to Mississippi during the Olin-Winchester move there and came home on weekends in the fall with his son to make sure the lights were all put up in place. On Christmas Day, we are sure the family will turn the light switch on one more time to spread the joy of the holiday.

Una said she was sad this would be the last time they did the light show, but she, her son and grandson wanted to do it one more time in memory of Richard Dunsing.

While the couple acquired the name “The Christmas People,” Una said he had the nickname of “Mr. Christmas” on his own.

“This was something we both truly loved to do each year,” she said about the Christmas lights display. “Richard would always do anything he could to help anybody. He always put everybody ahead of himself and never thought about himself.”

The lights from a previous Dunsing light show are pictured.

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