Holiday Lights Contest Editor's Choice: Fox Valley
The Daily Herald Holiday Lights Editor's Choice winner for the Fox Valley is Nick Roth, 4098 Canfield Circle, Elgin.
Editor's Choice winners each will receive a $50 Ala Carte Entertainment gift card.
The Daily Herald asked Roth about his display.
Q: How long have you been decorating your house like this?
A: I have been decorating "big" (thought it was big) since 2004. Every year it has gotten a little bigger. We have had the display synced with music the last five years and the last two years with RGB pixels in the front and traditional lights in the back.
Q: What inspired you to take it to the level you have?
A: Since I was a child I have always wanted a big display that people would want to come out and see and enjoy. I remember driving through Highland Park and other Chicago suburbs saying "my house will be like that one day."
Q: Explain the process of putting up the display.
A: The layout and planning starts in January right after the current display comes down. We order anything new early in the year and work on props and controllers all year until setup starts in September. We decided to do a Halloween display a few years back because the family loves Halloween and it helps getting up 50% of the front display. The backyard is last as it's a traditional display with the Santa sleigh blow molds, and the toy soldiers.
Q: How many total lights and/or lawn displays do you have?
A: This year we have 12,600 pixels in the front, the mega tree is 18 feet and 2,000 pixels, the three matrices are 4,000 combined total. We have 128 blow molds up this year and still 20 we couldn't put up. The backyard is 3,000 traditional led lights. (The display is) topped off with our red rotating light on top the house that can be seen a mile away.
Q: How much does your electric bill spike in December?
A: The electric bill has been great since moving to RGB pixels. All the pixel power supplies are 5v and 12v DC power. In years past with all traditional non-LED I remember extremely high bills.
Q: What do your neighbors think of your display?
A: Cedar Grove is a great subdivision with great families; we get great support and feedback! My neighbor across the street and I work together all year on our displays; his display is also great. My neighbor to the left loves it as "he" (I help) puts up his "DITTO" sign with an arrow and he is done decorating. Then every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving we invite the entire subdivision over for a hot chocolate bar and cookies to watch the first show of the year and kick off the holiday season.
We would love everyone to come and see the display, our showtimes can be found on our Facebook page: Canfield Circle of Lights, or our website Canfieldcircleoflights.com.