PLAINVILLE — Each winter, for more than two decades, April and Mark Blethen have welcomed the public to check out the substantial holiday display outside their North Washington Street home.

What the Blethens ask visitors for in return is a donation to the Plainville Food Pantry.

“We decorated the front yard for the last 22 years and always left a donation box,” April Blethen said. “We tried leaving a box on the side, but it got so overwhelming we had to move it to the backyard ... Mark suggested a set-up where there was a walk-through with the lights so that it was a path people could go through.”

“April & Mark’s Cartoon Christmas Display” features Disney characters, Scooby-Doo, and other popular animated stars. Along with the decorations, Christmas films are projected onto the side of the Blethen’s garage.

“Often, we have kids running through so excited to see everything, that they have to come through a second time because they missed something,” Mark Blethen said.

This annual winter wonderland can be seen from the nearby highway. Between that free advertising, word-of-mouth, and social media, the Blethens have had a lot of visitors.

Weather permitting, the display will be up through New Year’s Eve. Details can be found on the “April & Mark’s Cartoon Christmas Display” Facebook page.

nzappone@record-journal.com