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‘Right out of a Frank Capra movie’

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As Linda Jordan put the final touches on the characters in the “Snoopy House” Christmas display’s dollhouse outside City Hall on Tuesday night, she broke down.

“I just couldn’t stop crying,” she said. “It’s not relief. I’m happy. I’m sad at the same time.”

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions for Jordan and her husband, Jim, 59. Just two weeks ago, Wells Fargo permanently locked the couple out of their home on Santa Ana Avenue, which they rented out for supplemental income. The bank foreclosed on the property and auctioned it off in 2010.

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Fast forward to Tuesday, and the Jordans were in front of City Hall. The beloved Peanuts-themed decorations was set up behind them, with a colorful addition of green, gold and red lights illuminating the five-story building’s pillars.

Thanks to an outpouring of support from city leaders and, most notably, community volunteers who helped build the labor-intensive setup in a single weekend, the Jordans got to celebrate Christmas with their characters and the community again.

“This has been right out of a Frank Capra movie and I’m in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’” Jim Jordan said.

It’s a tradition Costa Mesa families have come to count on for generations. When news spread that the Snoopy House wasn’t going to be around, it hurt.

“I didn’t show it, but I was very sad,” said 9-year-old Cael McCarthy Kennedy.

As Cael walked away to look at Woodstock slipping down a slide, his mother, Anna Kennedy, was more candid.

“He cried.”

joseph.serna@latimes.com

Twitter: @JosephSerna

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