The founder of a beloved Christmas lights display in Burlington has died after a tragic accident earlier this week.
In a statement posted on the Musson’s Famous Christmas Display website, the family of 82-year-old Doug Musson said he was up on a ladder outside their home trying to figure out why water was dripping onto a pathway near their holiday lights display when the ladder he was standing on fell.
His son, Robert, told CTV News Toronto he working with his dad when he heard a loud crash
“I looked behind me and saw a ladder and I thought, ‘Oh the ladder fell.’ So I looked up and I yelled, ‘Dad are you okay?’ and I looked down and the next thing I know he’s two feet from me lying on the ground,” he said.
Musson died later that day in hospital.
“Our family is devastated. I debated even turning on the lights but decided he would want them on and he worked hard on making all of the displays,” a statement on the website’s homepage reads.
“This could possibly be the last year we can do the lights.”
The statement adds that Musson’s death will be financially devastating to the family as his small business provided the only income to the household.
As the news of Musson’s death reached the community, mourners laid flowers outside the family home.
“Today is a little bit harder than it was yesterday. It’s tough,” his wife Joanne Musson said. The couple came from Calgary to Burlington 42 years ago and has been married for 60.
Musson started to decorate the house in the mid-80s and, over the years, the elaborate display grew along with their family.
“Doug and I both liked to stand in the window upstairs and watch the faces of the little kids,” Joanne said.
The Christmas lights display, located at the Musson's home on Spruce Avenue, near Pine Cove Road, has been a long-time tradition in Burlington and on Wednesday, Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring called the accident “sad news” for the entire community.
“The Musson family are sort of known as the Griswold’s in Burlington,” he told CP24. “It is a tradition that I used to take my younger children to – Every year we used to go by and take a look at the lights – and it has become a tradition for so many different families not just in Burlington but outside of Burlington as well.”
Goldring said that he plans to have a conversation with Musson’s family in “due course” in order to see whether there may something the city can do to help.
He said that in the interim he does plan to check out the Christmas display to honour Musson and is urging other residents to do the same.
“One of the great things people can do is to go by and take a look at the lights. By doing so they will be showing respect for Doug’s family and what they are going through,” he said.
A funeral for Musson will be held in Burlington on Thursday.
