Now, Here Are Some Folks Who REALLY Decorate

The December 16th American Profile Magazine had an article by Marta W. Aldrich about some REALLY DECORATED HOUSES with some really beautiful pictures.

Glenn and Christina Barber of Spring Hill, Tn, put up 35,000 lights on their home topped by an eight-foot lighted cross. "It's all about the kids. I love the look on their faces," said Glenn. He has become an amateur electrician and starts mapping out the next year's lighting in April, then spend a full month preparing for the Thanksgiving lighting. He uses more than a hundred extension cords and six circuit breakers.

He's happy to do all this despite the $300 jump in his December electric bill.

The article then goes on to say that outdoor lighting really came into vogue in the 1950s. Over the last 50 years, the displays have steadily grown, especially with the introduction of inexpensive lights. Today, some are even computer controlled.

Chuck Smith, an electrical engineer in Franklin, Tn., had massive lighting displays at his home for thirty years. At its peak, he had 130,000 miniature lights connected by seven miles of wire controlled by a computer and nearly 400 circuits.

Unfortunately, he had to stop in 2003 after traffic in his neighborhood got to be too big of a problem. He now puts up his display at a local shopping center.

He has a website devoted to people who light up their homes http://www.planetchristmas.com/ . If you like majorly-decorated Christmas houses, you've got to check out this site.

The article closes with two other big-time decorators. Anthony Volpe who put up 90,000 lights last year in Monroe, NY.

In Scottsdale, Az, Michael Anderson has 35,000 lights synchronized to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, "The Chipmunk Song" and eight other Christmas songs.

"Let it glow!" by Marta W. Aldrich.

Now These Are Some People with Big Christmas Hearts. --RoadDog