Thanks for neighbour to making Christmas bright

To the editor,

A few weeks before Christmas, the Mirror printed a colour picture of a house that had been covered by lights, Christmas scenes and so on.

This house was decorated to raise money for the SickKids Foundation, and was on Benjamin Boake Trail.

My wife and I were determined to take our two grandgirls to see it. As we rounded the final turn on Benjamin Boake, and saw the house all lit up, the cries of delight from the pair was wonderful.

They were soon among the lights, the youngest one (aged four) calling to her older sister to come and see what she had found.

When I told them why the two people who owned the house had done this, they asked for money to put 'in the box'. We took photos of the scenes, which came out surprisingly well; at the same time aircraft turning into the landing pattern for Pearson were overhead, and I said the pilots were letting the passengers have a look at the house. Well, they might have been.

It was an exhilarating experience for us all. Two days ago, I received a thank you card from Mr. and Mrs. de Sario for my small cheque, and the information they had raised $16,000, which I believe beats last year's collection handsomely.

If Mr. and Mrs. de Sario do the same this year, I will nag the whole family, and my neighbours with children, to come and see the lights, and make a donation, of course.

Our thanks go to the de Sarios and the Mirror for making us aware of this unique episode.

Raquel Baranyai and Derek Pennington