Father-daughter duo deck the halls

If John McGovern and his daughter Ciara visit your house or business, you may find yourself singing the tune “It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas.”

The McGoverns operate a seasonal holiday decorating business in the Flathead Valley. They will come to your home or office and put up your outside lights and any other outdoor decorations you’d like to have adorn your property.

John had run a similar business in Orange County, Calif., when he lived there. He realized he hadn’t heard of anyone operating such a venture in the Flathead this year, so he began advertising his services a few weeks ago. As Christmas draws closer, he’s getting busier.

Just in time for his busy days, his oldest daughter arrived in the valley Tuesday for her Christmas visit. She splits her time with her father and family in Evergreen and her mother in Portland, Ore.

Essentially, any money the McGoverns earn from the holiday decorating business is Ciara’s, her dad said.

Ciara, 11, wanted to earn some money to buy Christmas gifts for her younger siblings, John, 6, and twin girls Jessica and Stevie, 5.

“I could have given her some money, but I thought it was time for her to learn about earning money and to start developing her work ethic,” McGovern said.

Ciara has worked with her dad on a few other projects, including installing tile for kitchen backstops. She’s a willing worker, her dad says — at least most days.

“Neither of us really wanted to get up today,” John said. “But I told her that’s part of having a job — getting up every day and going to work.”

Ciara doesn’t mind the holiday decorating work but said the job she’d love to have during her break from school would be “taking care of pets. I love animals.”

Most of McGovern’s jobs this year have been putting up lights for people who aren’t physically able to hang lights on their homes. Some houses have been where the dad is working out of town and the mom wasn’t able to put the decorations up.

He also has wrapped trees in lights and framed windows with lights. At one house, he put Santa, his sleigh and reindeer on the rooftop.

The toughest job so far was the day he worked in the rain, in a yard still harboring plenty of ice, with a very tall peak where lights were to be placed. “The extension ladder had to sit on the ice, that wasn’t fun,” John said. But it’s part of the job and he knew about the conditions before he arrived.

“I go to the house first to look it over and know what to take with me,” McGovern said. His work bag always holds zip ties, clips, a cordless screw gun and screws. And his pickup usually is loaded with both an extension ladder and a 6-foot ladder.

Customers can also pay McGovern to return after the holidays and remove the decorations.

“A lot of people, if they don’t want to put up their own lights, they don’t want to take them down, either,” he said.

McGovern operates the decorating business around his part-time job at Glacier Wilderness Resort. He also works for himself doing remodeling and home improvement projects, “but that has really slowed down lately,” which left time for the holiday decorating business.

McGovern can be reached at 890-1619 or 890-1679.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.