EAST NEW MARKET, Md. - The countdown to Christmas is in the single digits but there's one man in Dorchester County who makes sure his neighbors know who far away Christmas is all year long.
Spencer Bradley lives on Main Street in East New Market and for what he said is about four decades, he's had a Christmas Countdown sign posted outside of his home. Each and everyday, Bradley will change the numbers, from January to December. Bradley said he loves Christmas and loves bringing some holiday cheer to his neighbors no matter the time of the year.
"People come by here at 5:30, 6 o'clock at night when they get off work and they slow down. They take their cameras and they take a picture. And if I put something up new to it, they'll sit there and they'll look at it and they'll blow the horn when they go by," Bradley said.
But just like the cars that slow down to read the countdown numbers, Bradley is slowing down himself. He said his cancer has returned and the outlook for being around next Christmas is not promising.
"I just take it one day at a time. I'm at peace with it. I don't want to leave yet, nobody wants to leave, but I fought it a long time and I'm not tired of fighting it, but they said we've done what we can do."
Bradley and his sign have become somewhat synonymous with the town. Someone Mayor Caroline Cline said everyone knows and appreciates.
"What you see is what you get with Spencer," Cline said. "You may not agree with him and he may not always agree with you but you come away from talking with Spencer feeling there's someone I can admire."
Plenty of people have been showing their admiration for Mr. Bradley this week. A jar placed outside of the sign has been filled with treats, notes, and cards. And if this happens to be Bradley's last
Christmas with us, he wants to figure out the future of his sign soon and hopes someone will take on the responsibility.
"I know there will be a time when its going to be the last time I change it, but like I say, maybe the next day somebody else is going to change it."
So as Christmas approaches, Bradley will head outside after dark, hoping not to be spotted while he does so, and change the number on his Christmas Countdown sign. Something he has done for roughly four decades now and something he will do as long as he can to spread Christmas cheer in East New Market.