Small town living in Boulder City — PHOTOS

There is something special about and unique to Southern Nevada in Boulder City, especially this time of year. Even the most cynical among us can't help but be charmed by the sight of a middle-aged man driving around in an old convertible with a Santa doll tied to the back seat, or witnessing hundreds of children fully engaged in a tree-lighting ceremony, making eye contact, with nary an electronic device in sight.

The town of 16,840 residents hosts many parades, and what is probably the area's only Christmas cavalcade, Santa's Electric Parade, the first Saturday every December. This year, the night before the parade, the town was humming with festivities.

We found Dale Ryan and his wife, Diana, preparing to ceremonially light up their yard for the 12th time.

"What really sold us on the house was that it's on the parade route, Dale Ryan said. The couple moved here from Newport Beach, California, in 2003, where he decorated his boat every year. "I always enjoyed putting on the lights every year at Christmas."

Their single-story ranch house at 1525 Fifth St. is known locally as "the Christmas house" because of its enormous, animated sound and light show.

"I build a lot of my own displays," he said. This year he added a carousel with hand-painted horses. "That was my summertime project."

Some items in the display have been donated by residents. One year, Ryan said, "There was a knock on my door, and a lady said: 'This is from Sweden. You can use it,'" referring to an antique wooden sled.

"We put Marty the Moose on it," he said.

The display also includes moving ski chair lift, carousel and Ferris wheel. "A lot of these things have special meaning to me, Ryan said. "We lost my wife's mother last year, and we brought some things from her house in Akron, Ohio, including a 5-foot Santa from 1958, so we've got some retro stuff plus all the new stuff we've built."

He built a see-saw last year in honor of his parents. It holds two stuffed bears from the hospice room where his mother lived out the remainder of her days. The bears are tagged with her name, Laverne, and that of his father, "Wild Bill," who is 93, and was there helping out with the decorations.

Ryan spends six weeks every year installing, wiring and tweaking the display "to get it just right, and that's not counting what I do in the summer time building (new things). I always change things up, and I get some die-hard fans that try to guess what I've done new this year."

To formally light the house each year, an event that draws about 100 visitors, Jingle Cat (a live embodiment of the YouTube phenomenon) and Santa stop by at 5:30 p.m. The local Rotary Club provides free candy canes. Although Ryan wouldn't disclose how much his power bill is during the month, he said it's in excess of $1,000.

The Ryans also host a parade day party for about 300 guests every year.

A couple of blocks away in Frank Crowe Park, residents and visitors of all ages have assembled for a 6 p.m. ceremony to light the official Boulder City Christmas tree, a tall pine that is wired to the hilt.

A pre-lighting show emceed by Robert Pavlowski features songs by the Boulder City Senior Citizens.

Children gather around KSNV-TV, Channel 3, weather forecaster Kevin Janison and practice yelling "Ho Ho Ho" loud enough to motivate Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and Jingle Cat to enter the park and, more importantly, listen to their wish lists.

Abruptly, the park is cast in darkness. Nothing can be seen except the glowing neon sign of the El Rancho Boulder Motel.

Moments later, like the three wise men returning to Bethlehem, the trio saunter into the park and head toward the tree. As Jingle Cat attempts to toss enough energy through his electrified icicle wand to light up the tree, the kids scream encouragement at a decibel level consistent with a boy-band concert. On the third try, the pine tree is fully illuminated.

At Grandma Daisy's store in the center of town, employees Taylor Finn and Brook Washburn are ready for customers to stop in for fudge and candy apples, the season's best-sellers. Both have lived in Boulder City their whole lives, and they appreciate the special holiday celebrations their town offers.

"I don't think many other cities have many parades," Finn said. "And like, everyone comes together; every shop decorates," Washburn added.

Outside of Milo's Cellar, customers chat at curbside tables while enjoying the atmosphere. It's a wholesome, friendly place to live, said manager Mark Zambalis, who moved to Boulder City in 2013. He formerly worked at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Las Vegas hotel-casino on the Strip and has lived in many large cities but now prefers small town life.

"All we're missing is Opie with a fishing pole. It's lovely. I'll never leave it," he said. "It's very kid-friendly. Instead of taking my visiting friends downtown, I bring them up here for hiking and biking. I save them thousands of dollars. Why? Because they didn't lose it all gambling."

Zambalis said even at this time of year they see visitors from around the world. "You know why? Because the (city's slogan) 'A world away for a day' is really true; we're away from the rat race, the craziness."

Ryan feels the same allegiance to the community. "It's just a great town, and everybody gets to know everybody, even though we have over 14,000 people. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who didn't know where the Christmas house was. They might not know me, but they know where the Christmas house is."

He recalled the couples' initial house-hunting venture.

"We walked into the real estate office and introduced ourselves and said what we were looking for. The woman never asked for ID or anything. She gives us a key and says, 'Try the house four doors down from us.' I was sold right there! I said, they give me a key to check out a house without escorting us down? I love this town!"