Daily Herald Holiday Lights Contest Editor's Choice winner: Northwest Suburbs
Mike Murphy of 722 Pompano Lane in Palatine is the Daily Herald Holiday Lights Contest Editor's Choice winner in the Northwest suburban area for 2018.
Q. How long have you been decorating your house like this?
A. I started in 2005 and have been adding to it every year. I used to have a tall pine tree (that is now our basketball hoop) and my son said he bet I couldn't get lights on the top. I accepted that challenge and have been going ever since.
Q. What inspired you to go all out with your decorations?
A. Early on it was to impress my kids. As they get older, they are not impressed anymore, but now the neighbors are consistently asking me, "what is the plan for this year? Will you top last year?" And every year I try to do something new.
Q. How many hours does it take to put up the display?
A. Probably about 50-60 hours. Basically, all the weekend daylight hours in November.
Q. How many strings of lights are involved?
A. Gosh, hard to say. Think there are probably around 50,000 lights. Pretty much every color.
Q. How much does your electric bill spike in December?
A. Not that much. Around $60 a month. I have mostly LED lights, which helps a lot. Many of my neighbors donate lights and other decorations to add to the display and let me know which garage sales have good Christmas lighting stuff.
Q. What do your neighbors think of your display?
A. It is mixed. I know a few don't care for it, but the majority absolutely love it. I have neighbors who honk every time they drive by. My wife is also mixed. Sometimes she cannot get into her driveway on the way home from work because holiday gazers are blocking the drive.