Adding a twinkle

Lights, trees, wreaths, garland. You name it, he had it.

But three years ago, he decided to take it a step further.

“I had gone as far as I could go without adding animation,” the Seymour attorney said in his driveway Saturday afternoon while tweaking a few things to make a snow machine work.

Being in charge of the annual Fear Fair haunted attraction at Freeman Field, Hays had a knowledge and admiration for special effects, so he beefed up his decorations by synchronizing his lights to music and video. You can listen to the music at 89.9 FM.

Using more than 64,000 lights, operating on nearly 300 computer-controlled channels and 4,000 feet of extension cords, Hays turned his residential decorations into a Christmas experience.

Now, the home of he and his wife, Rebecca, at 911 South Drive in Sunset Parkway has become a holiday tourist attraction for area residents.

“I went to turn them on Wednesday night to test them and there were already people driving by,” Hays said of the lights. “It’s an immediate response.”

That’s OK with him. He wants lots of people to come by and see the display.

“We enjoy sharing our love of the holiday season with our friends, neighbors and others through the magic of holiday lights,” Hays said. “It’s fun for us and has become something of a hobby for me.”

Hays said a couple of thousand people see the lights each year.

“There’s not a time from when I turn them on to when I shut them off that there isn’t six to 10 cars out there and they shuffle all the time,” he said.

Thanksgiving night was the first full night for the lights to be on, he added.

The display is available for viewing from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. every day through New Year’s Eve, unless there is inclement weather.

Although Hays has placed in Seymour Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Christmas lights contest in past years, he said he’s not looking for any special recognition.

“I don’t even enter,” he said. “Someone always submits my name.”

One neighbor who is delighted over decorations at the Hays home is Ann Britton.

“We love to be able to look through the window and watch,” she said. “I think it’s a great thing for the neighborhood and it gets people in the mood for Christmas.”

Because the show is set to Christmas music on 89.9 FM, Britton and those passing by in cars can tune in to listen and watch as the lights blink and twinkle to the sounds of Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Simpson, Seymour native John Mellencamp, Ozzy Osbourne and others.

A video projector shoots images onto a large wreath-encircled screen allowing viewers to watch Christmas scenes while enjoying the display.

Although she wasn’t planning anything near as elaborate as the Hays’ decorations, Britton and her grandchildren were taking advantage of Saturday’s mild temperatures and sunshine to do a little outdoor decorating of their own.

The family hung a giant lighted wreath on the front windows and were adorning it with sprigs of holly.
“I got that wreath back in 1986, so it’s 23 years old,” she said. “But it still looks good.”

Britton said she was enjoying decorating more this year because of her help, including daughters, Debra Britton McKain and Barbara Britton Matta and granddaughters, Olivia, 6, and Madeline McKain, 9, and Emily, 8, and Ali Matta, 10.

“It’s much more fun because I have family with me,” Britton said.

Olivia said decorating grandma’s house was fun, especially because they got a special treat.

“We get to make cookies,” she said with a smile.

Ali said she liked to help decorate the house for Christmas because it made it look good for the holidays.

“They are really pretty,” she said of white lights Britton said she was thinking of stringing lights on the front of the house.

Also working on his lights display Saturday afternoon was Larry Harlow.

When it comes to decorating for Christmas, less is not more, he says.

“I’d say there’s probably 100,000 lights,” he said of his setup at 5756 E. 375N, across from the former Elks Golf Course. His display features a variety of standups, a nativity set, signs, Santa Claus, reindeer and many other holiday-themed items.

Harlow said he has been decorating his yard for the past 15 years.

“I just enjoy doing it,” he said.

But it can be a long and tiring process to get everything working just right, he said.

“I started working on them in October and hit it hard the middle of November,” he said. “I still have a few more things to do but I have them on so people can come by and see them anytime they want.”