Halifax neighbours duel it out with decorated election signs

The long election campaign is sparking some creative responses from a set of Halifax neighbourswho are trying to make sure their signs don't fade into the background.

For years, Malcolm Norton and his friends Allan and Stephanie Robertson have displayed their political inclinations on their respective lawns with little fanfare.

But this year, they gotfancy.

Norton says he rang his Liberal candidate's office immediately after the election was calledand soon upgraded to a larger sign than the one he'dinitially set up.And it didn't stop there.

Allan Robertson says he and his wife returned from their cottage midway through the campaign,noticedthe "rather large political sign" next door, and promptly ordereda double-sided NDP sign.

Floodlights and flags

The game was on.

Not to be outdone, Norton dug up some floodlightsto make sure his sign wasn't overlooked. His counterpart installed Christmas lights.

Both neighbours say their Tower Road lawns next to Point Pleasant Park were toodark anyway.

"It's been fun," Norton said. "It's been a lot of fun down here. We've been dressing up the signs, it's all in good humour."

"We descended into tackiness by putting up flashing Christmas lights," said Robertson.

With lights in place, he said he and his wife looked at each other and decided they needed a little extra.That's when they put up two Canadian flags.

Feather boas?

Norton says he contemplated a feather boas or a curtain, but figured he needed to draw the line somewhere.

Now the neighbours are in a truce. Sort of.

Robertson says they've put thoughts of further flourishes on hold, althoughNDP volunteers have installed a third, even larger sign on the fence of their corner lot.

So far, it is not decorated.

The friendly competition between neighbours has been fun, but Nortonsays he's looking forward to the end of this campaign.

"Oh my God. Just let it be done. Let's get it done and let it be over with."