Allen Park resident Carl Simm loves his job as a DTE journeyman lineman. But he also loves Christmas. And he’s found an eye-catching way to combine the two.

His DTE truck is decorated with between 25,000 and 30,000 twinkling holiday lights. The lights, inflatables and sound system are powered by an onboard generator. Everything on the truck was provided by DTE.

“We call it our Christmas truck, our Christmas parade truck,” Simm explains as his face is aglow from the bright LED lights that adorn the truck.

The truck was to be at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, on Dec. 25 for the Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams event. However, the 2021 Moonbeams event was cancelled due to COVID-19. Each December, community members from across southeast Michigan visited the Beaumont, Royal Oak campus at approximately 8 p.m. to shine flashlights to remind pediatric patients they aren’t alone and wish them sweet dreams.

Every year, starting in early November, Simm and two of his colleagues begin to decorate the DTE truck and trailer. It takes the three of them about eight days to decorate the truck.

“Management gives us the opportunity and the resources to do this and to go to these parades,” Simm said.

Lighted parades and events are nothing new to DTE, which has been doing this for over 30 years.

“I started at DTE 10 years ago and I asked permission to decorate a truck for our local parade and they gave me permission,” Simm said. “We started out with just a few strands of lights on a truck and over 10 years it has progressed into this.”

The truck makes its way to many area Christmas events, primarily in southeastern Michigan.

Sign up for email newsletters