Even when the weather outside is frightful, Rick Hilyard’s light show is so delightful.
The 649 Old Coach Rd. resident has banished the silent night and the white Christmas from Westerville’s holiday routine with his colorful Christmas light display. Display gawkers might recognize the house, which has won the city’s Holiday Light Contest two years in a row.
While having that title is nice, the awards are just an added bonus. Hilyard does it all for the community.
When he and his family moved to Westerville, Hilyard was looking for a way to give back to a local charity. His wife, Julie, a Westerville native, suggested the Westerville Area Resource Ministry.
Having been inspired by two brothers he knew growing up who used computers to program their Christmas lights, he came up with the idea of transforming his house into an epic winter wonderland to bring visitors out – and garner donations for W.A.R.M.
“We thought it was a good idea to have another location to drop off these items to make it more convenient for people to give,” Hilyard says.
From the first night of the show to the last, the family has a donation box out front in which visitors are encouraged to deposit non-perishable food items. In 2012, they collected a few hundred pounds of food, and that number jumped up to about 1,500 pounds last year, making the Hilyards W.A.R.M.’s largest non-commercial donor that year.
“More is always the goal,” says Hilyard. “It’s the number one reason for the light show.”
Still, that’s not the only effect of the show, he says. It also brings the neighborhood together and gets the kids excited for the holiday season, particularly the couple’s 6-year-old daughter, Cate.
“She loves seeing all the people come over to her house and helping me set up the display,” Hilyard says.
The Hilyards started setting up 70,000 light bulbs Oct. 1, working from the roof down. Starting early is crucial, so they can get as much w
ork done as possible before the mercury starts dropping dramatically. It usually isn’t until November that neighbors start to notice the setup, as that’s when the bigger parts of the display begin going up in the yard.
New to this year’s show are different songs for the coordinated light shows, high-tech lights and a 20-foot lighted tree to rock around. Advances in holiday light technology allow the decorator to program bulb by bulb, rather than by light strands. Among the displays will be a 10-foot spiral tree, a 10-foot regular tree, six mini trees, four talking trees, four leaping arches and Santa observing from a window, all blinking away to classic holiday tunes which can be heard on 92.9 FM.
The light shows begin Thanksgiving at 6 p.m. and will run through New Year’s Day. Shows start on the hour between 6 and 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and between 6 and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, weather depending.
For more information, visit www.dazzlingchristmaslights.com.
Natalie Higdon is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at tdufresne@cityscenemediagroup.com.
