Bolingbrook's 'Symphony in Lights'
Imagine the holiday creativity of Clark Griswold without the bumbling madness, and you're pretty close to tapping into the mentality of Carson Williams and John Carter.Maybe it's because they have a crew to untangle the lights for them. And they're several levels above plastic reindeers and mistletoe.The holiday display they're bringing to The Promenade shopping center in Bolingbrook is a coordinated and customized extravaganza no family budget can top.Their energy is more akin to the excitement of a kid walking in a winter wonderland for the first time. Please enable Flash var so = new SWFObject("http://www.youtube.com/v/rmgf60CI_ks", "Wizards in Winter", "300", "247", "8", "#ffffff"); so.addVariable("wmode", "transparent"); so.write("flashcontent");In that realm, Williams and Carter are Christmas heroes. Williams is best known for the light shows he created for his own home in Ohio. He set up light displays synchronized to holiday music every Christmas that drew throngs of spectators to his front lawn. He even created a low-frequency FM radio station to broadcast the music. The displays found national fame when Williams put video of them on YouTube. Miller Lite later used the display for a TV commercial called "Enjoy the Lites." Carter is best known for interactive holiday displays in major storefront windows, such as Macy's, across the country.Together, they are the creators of "Symphony in Lights" the new holiday display opening Sunday at The Promenade.Planning for the show began in February. Since then, 100 people in 15 states have worked to put the display together, fabricating decorations, programming computers and doing the math necessary for every light to blink exactly when it's supposed to.The display involves huge, lighted snowflakes, a 48-foot-tall Christmas tree with a star bright enough to see from the highway, and even a miniature version of Williams' Ohio home."For me, it's a techie thrill," Williams said. "You have 250,000 lights, and I get just to go 'click,' and they all come on. It's the, 'Wow, how'd they do that?' feeling.' "Carter is fueled more by the impact on the people who come to see the show. He switches to a wide-eyed, open-mouthed look of awe in describing what he's looking for the night the show opens."The thrill is when you see that one kid just standing there like that," Carter said. "That's when you go, 'Yeah, that's why I do it.' "This particular display also is a chance for Carter to show locals how much his talent has grown from his days as a third-grader at Washington Elementary in Wheaton. Carter lived in Glen Ellyn and Wheaton from first through third grade. Locals haven't seen what he can do since he won the third grade talent show with a ventriloquist's act.If you go#8230;What: "Symphony in Lights" a new holiday lights display synchronized to the music of the Trans-Siberian OrchestraWhere: The Promenade shopping center in Bolingbrook, just west of I-355 off of Boughton Road.When: Premiere is 6 p.m. Sunday; hourly shows run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. through the holiday season. Show is about 15 minutes long.Cost: Free"Symphony in Lights"What the new holiday light show at The Promenade shopping center in Bolingbrook entails:1 average home's daily electricity use to power the show3 different songs4 daily shows48 miles of copper wire100 people in 15 states to put the show together168 circuits to light the Christmas tree750 Christmas tree branches2,200 plugs6,000 ornaments58,000 mouse clicks to program the show250,000 LED lights1,479,403 YouTube views of the Christmas light show Carson Williams created for his own home 2 years ago.Source: Carson Williams, John Carter, Carson Stoga Communications, YouTube 512395A 48-foot Christmas Tree is at the center of a new holiday light show at The Promenade shopping center in Bolingbrook. Hours of math went into calculating the exact position each branch of the tree for the synchronized lights.