Long Island Families Poke Fun At Neighbors' Holiday Display

LEVITTOWN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — When a Levittown family put on their usual dramatic holiday light display this year, their next-door neighbors decided to respond with a little Christmas cheer of their own.

The Engel family put up their yearly assortment of bright lights on their Coachman Lane house, surrounded by brilliantly-lit figurines of snowmen, Santa Claus and reindeer prancing about their lawn.

The Paganelli family next door knew there was no way to overshadow the Engel's dazzling display, so they opted to get clever. They put up the word "ditto" spelled out with white lights, with an arrow pointing toward the Engels' house.

CBS2's Jessica Layton spoke with the Nassau County neighbors.

According to Joan Paganelli, it was their daughter who thought of the idea.

"I'm not going to try to compete with that, but this competes with it," joked John Paganelli.

Even the neighbors on the other side of the Engels are getting in on the fun. They've installed a Grinch figurine that appears to be stealing a long string of Christmas lights from the Engels' property.

"No matter what I do it's going to fail in comparison to that, so this is funny and I'm done," said neighbor Vinnie Neglia.

The Engel family is planning a holiday fundraiser all along the block Saturday. All proceeds will go to St. Jude's Children Hospital.