Why we do it...
This idea started like some ideas; two guys standing around, watching a video of Christmas lights on the Internet (Carson Williams' display, in Mason Ohio).
The first guy (Pat) said to the second guy (me), "You have to see this!"
FYI - Pat and I worked together as electricians at Hayward Electric some years ago. I left Hayward Electric in 1996 to pursue a career in technology. My company is here.
So the second guy (me again) said to the first guy, "Awesome! ...some relays... a logic controller.... the music might be tricky.... but I could do that...".
The first guy says, "no way."
The second guy says, "We'll see. Sign me up for next year".
A month later, and I found myself in Target, Home Depot, and Lowes, buying every Christmas light I could find, at the 'After Christmas' sales. I wasn't sure how I would do the light show, but I knew it would require a lot of lights!
After some research, I found a few great web sites such as Planet Christmas.
So I ordered controllers and software from Light-O-Rama and started programming. Note: With the introduction of ‘pixel’ technology, I no longer use the Light-O-Rama software, and since 2015, have switched to a program called “Xlights/Nutcracker”, which is AWESOME!
I created and ran the show the first year just to see if I could. Then something amazing happened...
It was so amazing to see so much community spirit, that we had to keep doing it.