Ole Man Heller and the Birth of the Elks Home Christmas Lights

Matt Shutt

My grandfather was “Grandaddy Heller” or, more affectionately and commonly known as “Ole Man Heller” or simply “Ole Man”. He and my grandmother lived in a little log cabin just outside the town of Bedford, which became known as the “Striped House”. You would know it by its bright white stripes between the dark brown logs. There was always a sign out front advertising “Ole Man Heller’s Woodshop”. 
 
He and my Granny raised their 6 children in the Striped House. Ole Man was a jack of all trades, and he built the little log cabin, which began as an old bootleggers shack, into the comfortable, cozy home they lived in their whole lives. He was largely self-taught, and learned skills such as plumbing, electricity, and wood working, by way of his own job and other tradesmen he knew.  He worked hard all his life, with his last job being for Mr. Cecil Cheetham as a plumber.

The Ole Man was the inspiration for the original Christmas display lighting at what has historically been known as the Elks National Home. One year, many, many years ago, he decided to do up a proper Christmas display for the enjoyment of his family and headed out to his woodshop to make that vision come true. He cut a Santa, his reindeer, and a couple of elves from sheets of Masonite and enlisted his family’s help in painting them. He then toted those enormous sheets of painted Masonite to the top of the striped house and secured them to the roof. At some point, some members of the Elks Home took notice of the display and decided to replicate it, with, obviously, a number of additions.
 
By the time I was born in the 70’s, the fabled Santa, and his sleigh had been relegated to the storage building among the other bits of forgotten history and, well, for lack of a better term, junk. Those bits of Masonite had given way to the ever-growing world of plastic and convenience, where elves and sleighs could be had for a few dollars at your local department store. The roots, however, lived on at the Elks Home and still do today.  The greatly expanded version of the Ole Man’s vision, is still visited by hundreds of people every year around Christmas time, keeping the memory alive of a time when one “Ole Man” took time from his busy schedule and workday to cut out decorations for the enjoyment of his family and lucky passersby. 
 
While Ole Man may not have continued to heft the sizeable decorations onto the roof of the Striped House in his retirement years, he did continue with his hobby of wood working. On any given day, after all the choring was done you could find him piddling away in his shop. Year-round, rain or shine, he was out there, surrounded by his tools, and a wreath of smoke from his pipe, which as they say, “gives a fool something to stick in his mouth and a wise man time to think”. Ole Man was the latter.
 
I remember spending hours in grandaddy’s shop with him from the time I was able to walk, pounding nails into a board with my very own hammer, until he was too advanced in years to spend that much time on his feet in his beloved shop. The years have rolled past at a dizzying rate, and the little striped house where the Elks Home decorations got their inspiration has faded from a warm, cheerful refuge to a state of disrepair. No matter the fate of the little house, I still remember with joy the smell of warm oatmeal cookies baked by my loving granny every Christmas, mingled with the scent of Captain Black pipe smoke and sawdust from Ole Man… or maybe Santa himself.
 
Matt Shutt is a Bedford native, and former U.S. Army Ranger. He currently resides in Lynchburg where he works for the city as a firefighter and paramedic. He has an overactive sense of humor, perfect comedic timing, and a mile wide sarcasm streak. In his free time, he plays the guitar, runs, rides a fancy bicycle, and fixes things that need fixing. 
 
 
Bedford Get Together, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization devoted to creating opportunities for all current and future community members to enhance their awareness, open mindedness, and respect.  The organization operates with the support of volunteers, donors, and community partners.
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If you would like to donate or volunteer to help with the repair and refurbishment of the decorations at the Elks Home, please click here.