LIHU‘E — Christmas is not the only time of giving, caring, sharing and loving, said Josie Chansky. The soft-spoken petite lady with her pet dog Daisy at her side welcomed thousands of people to her Christmas extravaganza of lights over
LIHU‘E — Christmas is not the only time of giving, caring, sharing and loving, said Josie Chansky.
The soft-spoken petite lady with her pet dog Daisy at her side welcomed thousands of people to her Christmas extravaganza of lights over the years.
Tuesday, that line ended.
The saga started in November 1954, when Joe and Josie Chansky decided they would decorate their yard in Honolulu for Christmas.
“The next year, I said, ‘It looks so nice, why not decorate inside the house also?’” Josie penned in a letter to Elizabeth Freeman. “I decorated inside and out, but this time, decided to make my own creations and designs out of discarded recycled things — egg cartons, pine cones, flip top can rings, flash cubes, beer and soda cans. I made chandeliers with clothes hangers and a Christmas tree with 7,000 green toothpicks.”
That tradition came with the Chanskys when they moved into their home on Kawaihau Road, and their holiday decorations gave the residence the nickname of the “Kapa‘a Christmas House.”
“Everything was one of a kind and everything was trimmed with miniature lights,” Josie said in her letter. “All of a sudden, my living room, from floor to ceiling, turned into the most beautiful sight to see! All of the decorations I made from recycled things came alive again.”
Josie said people came from all corners of the world, and one season there were as many as 18,000 to 20,000 people passing through their home.
All of this motivated her to do more.
“I continued my creations from then on, and was so happy to bring great joy to thousands of people,” she said. “This was our gift to all the children and their families on Christmas. To share. To care. To give. And to love. That is a blessing and a joy for me.”
When her husband passed on, the task became too daunting for the small lady.
But unknown to her, there was a lady with a son who was among the thousands that filed through the Kapa‘a Christmas house.
“When I visited her home with my young son, I was touched by her warmth and aloha as well as her artistic ingenuity,” said Freeman in an e-mail on Josie’s passing. “It seemed so sad that Kaua‘i would lose this special tradition.”
Freeman said she recognized the significance of the “tradition” Auntie Josie and Uncle Joe started with their Kapa‘a Christmas house.
“These traditions are deeply important to the heart and well-being of the community and are so often lost when an individual gets too old to keep it up, or passes on, or as so often happens on the Mainland, their property is lost to new development,” Freeman said.
Their paths crossed at the garage sale where Josie was selling off the creations because of Joe’s death.
Freeman’s intention was to get as much of the decorations and donate it all to the county so the people could still see the magic created by the lady of the Kapa‘a Christmas House. She wanted the “tradition” to stay alive.
Following the sale, Josie added to the list of donations with what was left.
Dec. 5 marked the 12th anniversary since that meeting as Freeman and Josie joined Mayor Bernard Carvalho in turning on the lights in and around the Historic County Building.
Hundreds of pairs of hands from inmates at the Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center to students from the Kaua‘i High School Academy of Hospitality and Tourism and community volunteers worked to renew and rejuvenate aging displays for all to see — several of the inmates noting how working on the displays deeply affected them.
The displays are maintained through the efforts of the Friends of the Festival of Lights, a nonprofit organization that sponsors the annual display at the Historic County Building.
“Auntie Josie never called herself an artist,” Freeman said. “As an artist myself, I recognized her artistic talent and ingenuity.”
Josie’s creations fell into the genre referred to as folk art, Freeman said.
“I am so happy to know how much I have touched so many people at Christmas time,” Josie said. “First at my home, and now at the county (building) every Christmas holiday. I love lights.”
Josie is survived by a brother, Alfred Silva; and sisters, Emily Rapozo and Virginia Rosa, all of Kapa‘a.
She also leaves behind her nephew and caregiver “Macky” (Sheila) DeSilva of Kapa‘a, numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Viewing will be from 8 to 10:45 a.m., Feb. 12, during a celebration of her life at St. Catherine’s Church in Kapa‘a. Mass is at 11 a.m. with burial to follow at Kaua‘i Memorial Gardens.
