GOOD OLD DAYS:

In 1967, 14-year-old Jim Jordan began what would become a yearly Christmas tradition at his family’s home in Costa Mesa.

Armed with some scrap wood and a jigsaw, Jordan built a Peanuts display on his front lawn.

It was a simple cast of characters in the early years. Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, Linus, Schroeder and Snoopy took up residence for a few weeks in December.

“It was 1967, Snoopy was all the rage back then, and everything was about ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas,’” Jordan said.

Two years later, even NASA recognized the popularity of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz’ characters.

Apollo 10’s astronauts nicknamed their mission’s lunar module “Snoopy,” and the command module “Charlie Brown.”

Jordan was 4 when the family moved into the Costa Mesa house and said he’d been captivated by the lights and neighborhood decorations for years. The decorations on his house consisted of a solitary strand of lights his dad hung each year.

“Dad was a fabulous architect, but put a tool in his hand and someone would have gotten hurt,” Jordan said.

The man next door became his adopted grandfather, and was a “master tinkerer,” inspiring a young Jordan, who “always wanted to make things.”

Forty-one years later, he’s still making things.

The Christmas display now occupies the front yard and curves around to the side yard; the characters, scenes and kids’ stuff keeps growing and growing.

All the characters have moving parts, a feature Jordan added in 1969.

“I would go trolling at garage sales looking for rotisserie motors because I could buy them for 25 cents.”

Jordan said they were loud and noisy but got the job done.

Jordan married his wife, Linda, in 1988, and moved to Mesa del Mar, but they returned each year to set up the scene.

Now, all the characters and background pieces are mounted on mechanical trailers that can be wheeled into place, and they’ve added a few things.

For six nights the week before Christmas, Santa “flies” in on a sled to entertain the kids, there’s a manger scene that changes three different times, a dollhouse that Linda decorated, and a special phone kids can use and talk to Santa.

Jordan said he’ll keep on decorating the house for as long as he’s able, because for him it’s a calling and a passion.

“We’re all given gifts and talents,” he said, adding that the display offers an extra bit of Christmas spirit, with a “little bit of grace” as well.

It’s an huge undertaking that requires a collective effort, but one or two special children always show up each year and remind them why it’s so worthwhile, the Jordans said.

“About 15 years ago, there was a father, maybe in his late 30s and his son, who was about 8. The boy was running all around, so happy, and talking about everything he was seeing. His dad was standing on the lawn, crying.

The boy’s mom, and the man’s wife, had died three months before, the dad told us.”

“This was the first time the son had spoken a word since then.”

Jordan walks the perimeter of the property daily, thinking of new things he can add or ways he can improve the display.

“It’s a privilege to be able to do this,” he said.

SUE THOENSEN may be reached at (714) 966-4627 or at [email protected].