Thurgoona's Kevin Allitt keen to raise funds for cancer support with Christmas light display

Kevin Allitt has decked out his Thurgoona home for the festive season and has again welcomed donations for the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre.

His soon-to-be neighbour on McLaren Boulevard, Bruce Gibbens, died from cancer in March, less than five years after he lost his wife to melanoma, so never got into his new house.

Mr Gibbens had matched Mr Allitt's fundraising efforts last year, so he wanted to carry on the tradition in honour of his good mate.

"I used to go around to all the building sites and pick up all the cans and bottles and cash them in to put the money in the bucket," Mr Allitt said.

"This year I decided to do a letterbox drop around the neighbourhood and quite a few people brought their bottles and cans to me.

"We had nearly $600 in the bucket before we started the lights and I've got another load to put through."

Among the new additions to the display is an exploding star beneath the nose of Rudolph, making it look like he's going into space, and a new Christmas tree in the middle of the roof.

Mr Allitt also made another tree out of PVC piping and covered it in paper mache.

"There's 2000 lights on it and a little possum looking out the side of it," he said.

"There's a couple of koalas in it and a frilled-neck lizard chasing a kookaburra, with a couple of reindeer looking up at the possum.

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"Where I had Joseph and Mary at the window, we've also now got the good shepherd and the three wise men.

"A lady named Kathy Bruce did the manger scene for me to put on the window and she's done a brilliant job.

"I covered them with clear plastic to keep the water off them and tacked them onto the frame.

"I've also got new icicle lights around the lawn. They were white last year and this year they're blue."

Mr Allitt started to put together the display in early November and it took him about two weeks to finish.

"It would take three or four days if you went hard at it, but I just do an hour here and there over a week or two," he said.

"It's all set up on the side of the house to look like an absolute Christmas scene and I've had a lot of people tell me how good it looks.

"I've already started on lights for next year."

Mr Allitt donated slightly less than $2500 to the cancer centre last year, but with no-one to match it this year his aim is to raise at least $1500.

He has urged anyone with excess bottles and cans to contact him on 0459 192 764 or drop them around to 64 McLaren Boulevard.

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