Kalamazoo’s Christmas Card Lane Celebrates 60 Years of Holiday Magic

A heartfelt look at Kalamazoo's Christmas Card Lane, a beloved holiday tradition now celebrating 60 years of community, memories, and joy.

What started with just a few houses in 1965 has since grown to include the entire 43-house neighborhood. Here's why it remains one of our favorite holiday traditions!

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What makes Christmas Card Lane so special?

I think, for many of us locals, it’s the nostalgia that brings us back year after year. Those of us who grew up in the Kalamazoo area have fond family memories of bundling up and piling into the car with our parents or grandparents for a slow drive down the dead-end stretch of Lauderdale Drive.

In addition to the giant candy canes at Bronson Park and the Winter Wonderland light show at the Gilmore Car Museum, a trip down Christmas Card Lane is a must-stop each holiday season. It's a rite of passage! According to the "somewhat" active Facebook page the holiday cards usually pop-up in front yards during the second week of December and stay up until just after the New Year.

This is a public plea to whoever manages the Christmas Card Lane Facebook page: Can we get a little more action here? Perhaps you can tell us when the cards are up? The page's most recent post is from 2021. What's going on over on Lauderdale Drive?

What I've always wondered, what happens when a resident of Christmas Card Lane moves away? In a 2015 interview with WZZM13 longtime resident of Lauderdale Drive, Anne Anderson, says,

When someone moves out, they're told to leave their Christmas card behind so the new neighbors can use it...If the new neighbors don't like the card that was left behind, they can create a new one, and if desired, they can recruit other neighbors to help them.

Cards are typically lit up from dusk to 11:30 at night. The closer we are to Christmas, the more traffic you can expect in the neighborhood, so my advice is put on a good Christmas playlist and settle in for a little magic. Happy holidays!