Newsmaker Q&A: Anthony Lauro

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Anthony Lauro, 36, of 1326 Wayne St., Palmer Township, already has been drawing attention for his terrific Christmas display and collection for Toys for Tots, including a special night when they had Santa, the Marines and live animals to spur more toy donations. But he went above and beyond the call of duty when he ended up in a wheelchair for his decorating efforts. He is the subject of this week's Q&A.

Q. Tell us about the injury you sustained putting your display up this year.

A: Putting some wreaths up on the second story of our house, I over-extended and the ladder started to shake a bit. I remembered reading that when you are about to fall, jump away from the ladder and keep your momentum going when you hit the ground. I don't know how, but I avoided every decoration on our lawn and rolled about eight feet or so after I fell. In the end it was two broken bones, each broken in two locations on my foot. My oldest son, who is 7, decided he wanted to take a photo of me. So he emailed my family in New Jersey a photo of me being strapped to a board with the neck brace and everything. Needless to say, receiving a photo of a family member being administered first aid is not something someone wants to find out via email. But he got the victim, the EMTs, the police, etc., in the shot, so I guess journalism is in his future.

A: All the credit goes to my wife Belinda, who continued to decorate with the help of my father and my in-laws as well as a local friend, Laura Dombrosky of Palmer. Without them our event couldn't have happened. My wife rented me a wheelchair so I could still decorate. Luckily, the roof was already completed. We even had decorated the backyard. Unfortunately, with my injury we fell short of our goal of 30,000 lights. We have a final count of 29,111 lights up. Yes, we actually label every strand of lights so we know exactly what we have.

Q. What other problems have you run into over the years with your display?

A: Electricity has always been an issue at our house. Someone finally discovered we had a GFI outlet that wasn't grounded properly and was always tripping the power. We have added additional dedicated outlets and circuit breakers to separate the lights from the rest of the house. In the past, doing laundry while the lights were on was a big no-no. Also, when it rains, even though we elevate our connections, they still sometimes trip, [and] the wind is so bad that we usually lose a few lawn decorations. This year storage will be a big issue. We need an addition just to store everything.

Q. How much higher is your electric bill in December?

A: More than the national deficit. Seriously, I don't even look. Thank goodness we are on a payment plan. I was out of work for a little while and we never hesitated about not having this event. It's great to see the community come out and support this cause.

Q. Where do you store everything?

A: Wherever there is space. Properly packing up and labeling each box becomes harder and harder every year. Items get damaged and have to be repaired, which sometimes makes it hard to disassemble them delicately and store them safely. Taking the decorations down is not as much fun as putting them up, either.

Q. How successful have you been collecting toys this year?

A: We have been extremely successful. Any toy received after our event, which was held on Dec. 3, will be dropped off at the Toys for Tots Allentown location and become a part of next year's distribution of toys. The night of the event, which lasted three hours, we collected close to 200 gifts, including a bicycle. It's been amazing how much people are willing to donate. Altogether we are around 400 toys to date.

Q. Are you already thinking about next year?

A: Not only are we already thinking about next year, but have started planning next year. Where we want lights to be, what lights we want to change out, how to make our own items have all been discussed already for next year. One major item we want to accomplish besides having more LEDs set to music is possibly have our decorations set up so you can get out of your car and walk throughout our entire property, including the backyard, but I don't think we are quite there yet in terms of displays We [also] have looked into taking welding classes to create items for our yard.

— Bill White

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-bill-white-newsmaker-20111224,0,4342753.column