Sparkleball Street
North Yale Avenue - Fullerton CA
The sparkleball display on N Yale Ave (map) is a neighborhood effort. Jeff got his first sparkleball from Don's father, who had learned to make them in Nebraska. Jeff started making them and hanging them in his tree at Christmas. Then he cajoled Don to do the same, and now, years later, the whole street blinks, whirls, flashes with almost a thousand sparkleballs.
Through the year neighbors gather to make sparkleballs in Don's garage. A neighbor provides a crane for the two-day hanging right after Thanksgiving. Each neighbor pays for the electricity that powers the lights in the trees in front of their house-- unless a neighbor can't afford it or their wiring isn't up to the task. Then neighbors pitch in.
Don, Jeff, Bill, Murph, and Robert -- the masterminds behind the display-- say that the only part of it they don't like are the people who ask to buy sparkleballs. "It's all just for fun," Don says. "Nobody's in this for the money."
Bill, Robert, Don, Jeff (above) and Murph (not pictured) are the instigators behind North Yale Ave's display.
The tall eucalyptus trees make hanging sparkleballs a feat.
Jeff's garage - where it all began. (Don Deyne photograph)
Thank you, Kristin, for inviting us to see your street.
A few red and green ones for punctuation.
It's as fun to see in daylight as at night. (Like seeing how the magician does the trick.)
Don makes the largest ones out of 10 oz cups and 300 chasing lights. (see below)
Don's giant sparkleball is a feat of sparkleball engineering.
Volunteers, a commercial crane, and miles of electrical cord take two days to make it happen.
Photograph Courtesy of Don Deyne