Question: Something quite large in McLean County — the largest in all of Illinois, in fact — is today celebrating its birthday. Do you know what it is?
Flick Fact: Whose birthday is also today? | Rail-item | pantagraph.com - Bloomington Pantagraph
Question: Something quite large in McLean County — the largest in all of Illinois, in fact — is today celebrating its birthday. Do you know what it is?
Answer: Blow out 191 candles for McLean County itself, founded Dec. 25, 1830, by the state Legislature, back when Christmas wasn’t as big of a deal and not a holiday from work. McLean County, if you didn’t already know, is Illinois’ largest county geographically, covering 1,186 square miles. And how landlocked? Of those 1,186 square miles, only 2.9 of those square miles are water.
3 questions with Central Illinois Christmas lights decorators
Rave Road Lights
Show name: Rave Road Lights.
Address: 3902 Rave Rd., Bloomington
Show schedule: 5:30 - 10 p.m. on Sundays-Thursdays and 5:30-11 p.m. on Fridays-Saturdays.
Music radio frequency: 102.7 FM
Why they display: It's a year round hobby. We love going to Disney World and this was a way for us to bring a bit of that magic home with us to share with others.
Any goals or themes: Our show, from the props to the music sequences, tend to be more Disney themed.
How long does set up take: While it's a year-round planning and building process, the actual setup takes about 7-10 days. We usually begin in early October for Halloween, then it is partially taken down and set up for Christmas around Thanksgiving.
Rave Road Lights
House name: Rave Road Lights.
Address: 3902 Rave Rd., Bloomington
McCoy Family Christmas Lights Show
Show name: McCoy Family Christmas Lights Show
Address: 2815 Scarborough St., Bloomington
Show schedule: 5:30 - 9 p.m. on Sundays-Thursdays and 5:30-10 p.m. on Fridays-Saturdays.
Music radio frequency: 105.3 FM
Why they display: I've done this for years and the show has grown every year. It's something fun that I enjoy doing for the community. I get comments year-round from neighbors and others who enjoy watching it -- especially with their children. Even during Halloween, parents would come up to the door with their children and ask when our show begins this year.
Any goals or themes: Our theme is traditional Christmas. I don't get into crazy music. It's fun and traditional music. This year I added a Nativity scene. I also added the ability for viewers to use their cell phones to request songs, so they can control the playlist. Last year I added an animated full-sized Santa who sits on the porch. More plans are already in the works that I've already started to build for next year's show.
How long does set up take: Setup, programming, and testing takes about three months. This year I began in September, but I actually work on it all year-round.
Answers by Scott and Jennifer McCoy.
Bloomington Lightshow
Show name: Bloomington Lightshow
Address: 49 Prenzler Dr., Bloomington
Show schedule: 5 - 9:30 p.m. on Sundays-Thursdays and 5-10 p.m. on Fridays-Saturdays.
Music radio frequency: 94.1 FM
Why they display: We do this for not only our enjoyment but for the communities enjoyment. 2021 is our 11th year. The number of lights has grown over time. That's now over 27,000 lights, with music. We have 7 songs in our lineu.
Any goals or themes: None
How long does set up take: We start setting up in late September and turn on the show the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Signed Mark & Dawn Bittermann.
The Pecks
House name: The Peck house.
Address: 511 E Payson St., Pontiac
Show schedule: 5-9 p.m.
Why do they display: I originally started doing Christmas light displays when i moved into the neighborhood and noticed that none of my neighbors put up any lights and that seemed pretty sad. Since then it's turned into somewhat of a competition with a friend at work who also does a Christmas display in Hayworth.
Any goals or themes: My goal every year is to try something different. This is my first year with computer operated light controllers.
How long does setup take: It took about 5 days of working sun up to sun down for the physical setup but about a month to learn the sequencing software and prepare the songs.
Jack Spicer
House name: Jack Spicer
Address: 603 S. Mercer, Bloomington
Show schedule: 4:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.
Why do they display: For children and the community to enjoy.
Any goals or themes: Candy Cane Lane
How long does setup take: 14 days
Jack Spicer
House name: Jack Spicer
Address: 603 S. Mercer, Bloomington
The Christian house
House name: The Christian house.
Address: 9979 Old Sawmill Rd, Bloomington
Show schedule: 5-9 p.m. on Sundays-Thursdays, 5-10 p.m. on Fridays-Saturdays.
Music radio frequency: 102.7 FM
Why do they display: It is challenging and rewarding. We get a kick out of making the season bright for the young and old. Kids are especially fascinated by the Santa hologram in the window.
Any goals or themes: No particular goals this year. Mainly just to thumb our nose at COVID.
How long does setup take: It takes about 4 days to put the show up but that's over a 2-3 week period for us.
Signed, Lynne Christian
The Christian house
House name: The Christian house.
Address: 9979 Old Sawmill Rd, Bloomington
The Schmidts
House name: The Schmidts
Address: 2001 Haverhill Country Club Park, Normal,
Show Schedule: After 4:30 p.m. daily.
Why they display: Christmas was my wife's favorite Holiday. Love to provide the display for the community to enjoy, especially the children
Any goals or themes: Always try to depict some unusual scene or activity of Santa in his workshop, taking a nap, sunbathing on a beach, reading his naughty and nice list, taking a bath, and many more.
How long does setup take: Two days.
The Schmidts
House name: The Schmidts
Address: 2001 Haverhill Country Club Park, Normal
The Ehresman-Krall home
House name: The Ehresman-Krall home
Address: 901 E Shelbourne Drive, Normal
Show Schedule: 5-10 p.m.
Why they display: Growing up my father & I would decorate the outside of house and yard every year. It holds some of my fondest memories growing up. He passed away in 2019. Decorating now is a way to continue that legacy.
Any goals or themes: This is our second Christmas in our home and we add a little bit to our displays each year. This year's goal was to kick it up a notch. We added Darth Vader at the AT-AT reindeer, in addition to Grogu or Baby Yoda that we had on display last year. My husband's favorite holiday movie is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We wanted to incorporate that as well since we have such a large space on our corner lot.
How long does setup take: We have a pretty helpful crew with our kiddos. It only took a day to set up.
Signed, Elle Ehresman-Krall
The Ehresman-Krall home
House name: The Ehresman-Krall home
Address: 901 E Shelbourne Drive, Normal
The Smith home
House name: The Smith home
Address: 1101 Bakewell Ave., Normal
Show Schedule: Lights power on at dusk for 8 hours unless there's heavy rain. Inflatables shut off for high winds.
Why they display: I've always loved Christmas, and I knew growing up that when I had my own home, I wanted to do a big display. My wife and I have two young sons, one on the Autism spectrum, and they get so excited to see all of the lights each year. Living across from an elementary school, the kids look forward to seeing it as well.
My hope is my display brings a smile to the faces of those that pass by, and gives them a sense of joy this time of year. After the past couple of years, we could all use a reason to smile a little more. Even my neighbors enjoy the display. Our next door neighbors next door helped raised the mega tree this year.
I get enjoyment out of seeing how much the kids enjoy the display, and all of the people that take the time to drive by and look at the display.
Any goals or themes: I have a goal every year to add something to the display, whether it be big or small. This year, I added the Polar Bears, and the Snoopy and Grinch inflatables. I don't really have a specific theme, but we've started to call it "Clark on Bakewell".
How long does setup take: The entire display usually takes two full weekends to set up.
Signed, Eric Smith.
The Smith home
House name: The Smith home
Address: 1101 Bakewell Ave., Normal
Lights on Interlocken
Show name: Lights on Interlocken
Address: 2601 Interlocken Dr, Bloomington
Show Schedule: 5-9:30 p.m. daily.
Music radio frequency: 107.3 FM
Why they display: I do this because I love lighting up a house for Christmas. I have been doing it since I was a kid at my parents and grandparents houses. I continue to do this because of the joy it brings to others. The support and feedback from the community has become a driving force to continue.
Any goals or themes: The Lights on Interlocken display has evolved over 14 years to what it is today. I try to add at least one new element each year, but this year I was unable to add anything because of the supply issues due to Covid. No matter what changes in the display, the music has to be kid friendly.
How long does setup take: Setting up the display actually begins in early October with the Halloween show. The light strings on the gutters are used for both Halloween and Christmas - I just change the light bulbs. Overall, the set up takes between 24 and 30 hours.
Signed, Clint Harweger.
Lights on Interlocken
Show name: Lights on Interlocken
Address: 2601 Interlocken Dr, Bloomington
Not Your Normal Christmas Lights Show
Show name: Not Your Normal Christmas Light Show.
Address: 11 Jodi Lane, Bloomington
Show schedule: 5-10 p.m. on Sundays-Thursdays and 5-11 p.m. on Fridays-Saturdays.
Music radio frequency: 106.1 FM
Why they display: We love building something that families can enjoy every year. Every year one of our favorite holiday traditions is getting hot cocoa and driving around to look at Christmas lights. Over the years several other local displays have come and gone and we wanted to use our unique skills to add another show in our community.
We use our show to spread Christmas cheer and raise money for a local charity. This year we're collecting donations for Compass Closet, which provides brand new clothing for foster families (and other families in need).
Any goals or themes: After moving to a new home this year, our goal was just to get a display up and running! We had to rebuild almost every aspect of our show because every window, roof line, and wiring is different this year. We added about 30% more lights and props to our show this year.
How long does set up take: The show takes months to produce. We started putting lights on the house before Halloween, but had been building props for several months. It takes a few hundred hours to place everything, wire it up, and map the lights in our software.
Labels:
Star is born today
Thanks for reading Flick Fact: Whose birthday is also today? | Rail-item | pantagraph.com - Bloomington Pantagraph. Please share...!
0 Comment for "Flick Fact: Whose birthday is also today? | Rail-item | pantagraph.com - Bloomington Pantagraph"