RIGHT DOWN CANDY CANE LANE REVELERS TAKE TRIP TO HOLIDAY FANTASYLAND.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - On Candy Cane Lane, the Christmas spirit burns so bright it illuminates a magical world.

``It's like a fairy tale,'' said Tarzana resident Anna Trojak, who walked down Lubao Avenue alone one recent night in a dreamlike state - like a reindeer stunned in a forest of lights.

``Las Vegas has nothing on this.''

For more than five decades, homeowners in this half-mile-square area of Woodland Hills - just north of the Ventura Freeway and east of Winnetka Avenue - have electrified the neighborhood with thousands of lights and decorations.

Iron gates, fir trees, porch frames and windows blink and twinkle with brilliant colors. Inflatable snowmen and Santas compete for space on front lawns with Nativity scenes and human-size cartoon characters made from plywood cutouts.

Giant plastic peppermint sticks as tall as grown children line driveways and paths leading to front doors.

The massive display of lights and artistry draws thousands of starry- eyed visitors to the neighborhood every holiday season.

``I always dreamed of living around here just to be able to put up all these lights,'' said Artura Vela, an Oakdale Avenue resident who has lived on the lane for five years now. Each of the dozen deciduous trees in his front yard is strung with white, green, red and blue lights. Plastic snowflakes the size of basketballs dangle from several branches.

``Each year, we get better,'' he said. ``We put more out. This year, we started three months ago.''

Vela, 56, said he doesn't mind that from Thanksgiving Day through New Year's Day, cars filled with young and old inch up and down his block night after night to admire the lights.

Most residents who live on Candy Cane Lane swear the annual ritual of decorating to the extreme has nothing to do with competition. But when pressed, some will admit satisfaction does creep in when their homes get noticed.

``I'd be nuts to say that there isn't some innate competition,'' said Lubao Avenue resident Peter Grossman. ``But I do it mostly for community spirit.''

Grossman, 42, stretched dozens of strings of white lights between two pine trees to create a snowfall effect in front of his corner home.

Down on Jumilla Avenue, Lisa Stephenson and son Mason, 7, were still working on their decor as they strung lights on an indoor Christmas tree. With the porch pillars, lawn and trees already decorated, the family was planning for a party and a light viewing later in the evening.

``We're drawn to the tradition,'' Stephenson said. ``We just love decorating.''

There was a time not too long ago, however, when the spirit of Candy Cane Lane was dimmed. In 1999, a 24-year-old man was shot several times while viewing the Christmas light displays with his wife and 2-year-old son.

His killer was arrested last year.

The neighborhood seems to have recovered since, but not all the way, said 17-year-old Michael Miller of North Hollywood, who grew up visiting Candy Cane Lane as a child.

``I can remember when there were more lights and Christmas music played loudly from front porches,'' he said.

On a recent weeknight, Miller stood on Lubao Avenue to sell glow sticks for $2 each. Maybe, he thought, those who visit Candy Cane Lane would want to take a piece of the moment home with them in the form of a plastic glowing wand.

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, map

Photo:

(1) A festive marker worthy of the North Pole labels the brightly lit neighborhood in Woodland Hills as Candy Cane Lane.

(2) A cutout of Homer and Bart Simpson in Santa garb greets visitors to the lane.

(3) A Nativity scene and an old-fashioned depiction of Saint Nick are illuminated outside a Candy Cane Lane home. The street's displays are a Woodland Hills tradition.

(4 -- 5) Electric reindeer, above, graze on the lawn of a Louise Street home in Glendale; at right, a gingerbread man grins with holiday glee as he stands in a field of candy canes back on Candy Cane Lane.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Map:

Candy Cane Lane

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