Extreme holiday spirit

STAFF WRITER

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link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

Roger Hepler of Clovis with a small Santa Claus figurine he plans to gift to a friend.

Some people collect baseball cards. Some collect music, be it eight-track, cassette, CD or vinyl.

Still, others collect Christmas. A pair of Clovis couples on the city’s northwest area decorate their homes inside and out.

For Troy and Tonia Gilliard, the lawn at their home on John Doe is decorated with inflatables, but on the inside the Christmas trees are the story. There’s a baker’s dozen of trees — 13 of all sizes, shapes and colors.

Just a few blocks away on Prairieview, Marty Ulibarri and his spouse Roger Hepler have a front yard nativity scene and dozens of Santa Clauses inside.

“We counted last night,” Ulibarri said, “and we’ve got 92.”

Tonia said she and her husband have done the trees for about nine years, and she decorates the trees while others are out shopping.

“I wouldn’t do Black Friday ever again,” Tonia said. “We didn’t like it, so we decided that’s when we would decorate.”

There’s a main tree with the gifts for family, and there are other trees throughout. One tree has vintage decorations. Another is dedicated to Santa Claus. Still another is full of snowmen, while another tree features wine glasses and bottles from the years.

“We always did Christmas big, even when I was a kid,” said Tonia, whose house also features other collections. Over the fireplace are half a dozen stockings, including some for the family pets, and the house has a small collection of retired military — her husband, who does government service at Cannon Air Force Base, and their German Shepherd Alex, considered too old for military service but still extremely capable as a guard dog.

The couple doesn’t buy trees anymore, with Tonia figuring her husband has reached his limit, but they’re frequent visitors to estate auctions in an attempt to give orphan decorations a new home and purpose.

Even though a fully-decorated tree is in nearly every room of the house — yes, including a bathroom — the build and takedown is an efficient process. Full decoration of the house takes about three days, and decoration storage starts and ends on Dec. 26.

Well, there is one exception. A tiny silver, blue and orange tree is themed for the Denver Broncos, and it stays up until the team is eliminated from the playoffs.

“As soon as the fumble happened,” Tonia said in reference to the opening play of last season’s title game, “we started taking it down.”

Ulibarri and Hepler, who have been together for 35 years and living in Clovis for 22, seem to have exhibited some control if you were to think of it as less than three Santas purchased per year.

“When we first got together, we bought a Santa Claus topper,” said Ulibarri. “Every year, we would buy another one and it kept on going.

“Every year, we kept saying, ‘That’s it, no more.’ And then we found something we’d like.”

Some of the Santas are porcelain, some are wood and some are plastic. Some are just standalone figures as tall as Ulibarri and Hepler, while others fit in the palm of a hand. Many are cookie jars, and the total amount would require a ludicrous amount of cookies to fill.

Friends also get them a Santa every now and then, but Ulibarri said one of the best things they’ve received so far this year is an anonymous card, “For the Griswolds,” telling them how much happier their efforts make Christmas.

Who’s the bigger buyer? It depends on who you ask.

“We have to talk each other out of it,” Hepler said as he pulled out a gift bag with a small Santa figure he planned to gift to a friend. “But it never works.”

For this year, Ulibarri seems to have the upper hand.

“I bought one,” Ulibarri said, “and he bought four.”