Joyful smiles left the Redding family’s faces as their house lighted up for the holiday season. The lights and wreaths, donated and installed by Augusta Christmas Decor, were made possible through a nomination program.
Kyle Flanagan, president of Augusta Christmas Decor, received nominations for the Decorated Family program. North Augusta disabled veteran Matt Redding, along with his wife Felicia and son William, were nominated by another family member and were chosen to be the lucky family for 2022.
“When we heard the Reddings’ story this year, it was really just a no-brainer for us. We always get a lot; but, unfortunately, we just can’t do them all,” Flanagan said. “When we heard their story, it just kind of hit home to my team; and I and we were like we have to make this happen.”
Matt Redding served abroad as an Army-combat veteran and has since medically retired from the service.
“It means a lot,” Faye West, who nominated the Reddings, said. “It means a lot to us that a community comes together to support our veterans because it is important that we remember that they have been to war, they’ve come home, and the community still supports them.”
Flanagan is happy to be a small part in making the holidays special for a military family.
“We just see what we see through our friends and our family what they go through and it’s not just the soldiers, it’s the soldiers’ families,” he said. “It really impacts the whole family, and that is why we love doing it; and it is a very small thing for us to do, and it’s not that this repays what they are doing but in our little way, it’s just something that we want to do and we feel like we should do for us.”
Felicia Redding was honored to be nominated and see the lights on their house.
“It was really exciting for me because this is something that I have always wanted but with my husband being a disabled veteran, he is not able to get up and down ladders and has a big service dog for balance, so it is not something that is feasible,” Redding said. “I am not very coordinated, so I didn’t trust myself to do it either, so it was nice to have somebody come and do a little something for us.”
“When you support local businesses, you are supporting people like this, like the Redding’s in the community, where we can do things for them,” Flanagan said. “… I know a lot of local businesses that do things like what we are doing, and that is how they are able to afford to do them and how we are able to afford to do them.”
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