MAYO Carter, a teacher at Chancellor Middle School in Spotsylvania County, said there have been Christmas seasons when she had trouble feeling truly festive.

But there was always a sure cure, a way to get an infusion of Christmas cheer and caring that would jump-start her holiday.

She'd go to Ho Ho Land, the largely handmade bright-light Christmas display that turned the home of Ronnie and Mollie Hooe on Cranes Corner Road in Stafford County into a holiday treat.

"I always left there upbeat and happy," said Carter. "For me and so many other people, it was a highlight of the holiday."

When Carter read the obituary for Martha Anne "Mollie" Hooe in October, the news hit her hard. She was also saddened a few weeks later to read that, because of the loss of his beloved wife, Ronnie Hooe would not be putting on the amazing display this year.

"It struck me that here was this man who has now lost his son and wife," said Carter. "I thought he needed to know that the community is here for him. What he and his family did each Christmas touched so many of us, there had to be a way to show him how much we appreciated that."

The Spotsylvania teacher pondered the question recently until it hit her: A group of city residents along Wolfe Street, where her boyfriend lives, go caroling each year.

Why not, she thought, take carolers from that group, and any others who were interested, and travel to Hooe's home to return a small bit of the Christmas cheer he's provided through the years?

Carter and about 30 singers, both young and old, did just that Tuesday night, arriving not long after dark.

To make it all a bit more festive, easier to organize and safer than taking a handful of cars to jam the road, they arranged to get there on the Fredericksburg Trolley, which donated its services.