More than a hundred people came together this month to pay tribute to Croxley’s Mr Christmas who unfortunately passed away last year.
Dave Edwards, or Mr Christmas as he was known to residents, passed away on November 13, 2020, after a battle with cancer.
Famous in the village for his decorating the ‘Christmas House’ with hundreds of Christmas lights, Mr Christmas lit up the hearts of residents for over 40 years.
On November 13, marking the anniversary of his death, residents got together at the Guild to pay tribute to their Mr Christmas.
His daughter, Sharon Markham, spoke to CroxleyNews about how the memorial went, with local band the Four Horseman playing a range of songs throughout the evening.
She said: “We are still grieving unfortunately but the memorial was really good, by the last two songs played everyone was on the floor dancing.
“Everyone was chanting Mr Christmas and dancing, Dad would have absolutely loved it.”
Sharon continued to say that she felt as if her dad was there throughout the evening with a life size cardboard cut of Mr Christmas standing in place.
She said: “We put together little packets of Jammie Dodgers and they were given out as favours for people to go home and have a cup of tea to remember Dad.
“They were his favourite biscuits. I had Dad’s ashes put into a teddy bear which sat up on a shelf behind the bar watching.”
After the success of the recent memorial, Sharon was asked by residents if it will become an annual tradition.
She said: “I’m getting so much positivity from the event I think I might do it again.
“Some people said it would be lovely to kick off the festive season with Mr Christmas’ memorial night every year.
“I think the community is feeling the loss of Mr Christmas as well.”
The evening was made complete with a 7ft Christmas tree donated by Ryan from Love Flowers.
Mr Christmas had raised money for local charities from his displays every year, with the display in 2020 raising £10,000 for the Peace Hospice Care.
This tradition continued with the memorial raising around £560 and rising for the Bone Cancer charity.
Sharon also paid a special thank you to those who donated raffle prizes.
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