A local Turlock family aims to light up the holiday season with an extravagant light show that they call “Christmas on Sycamore.”
For the second consecutive year, Ronald and Jackie Detwiler, along with son-in-law Chris Waller, have set up the show at their 1441 Sycamore St. home.
The entire set took nearly two months to set up and attracts 100 cars a night as Christmas draws closer. The family will be passing out candy canes, cocoa, and coffee.
Homeowner Ronald Detwiler shared that the main purpose of the light show was for their granddaughter – the daughter of Chris Waller.
“It was the idea – we loved it,” said Detwiler. “Our granddaughter, she was just smiling, she just loves the show, runs around through it, playing. Now the other people are showing up now, more children are showing up, with smiles on their faces. It puts you in that spirit to do more. And that’s what we keep doing.”
As for how they synchronize the lightshow, Waller explained that they use Light-O-Rama – a computer-controlled lighting program. For every three minute song it takes nearly six hours to sequence. Every light flick or flash is represented by a fifth of the second in the song.
A new addition to this year’s Christmas on Sycamore is a Toys for Tots collection box set up in the booth on the side of the house. They currently have a total of 20 toys.
“We wanted to try something to reach out further to kids that aren’t as fortunate as other kids,” said Detwiler. “This is our way of spreading the smile further on out.”
The family wanted to give a special thank you to both their neighbors and APG Solar. APG Solar supplies the family with enough power to run the lights. Last year, the company powered better than half the show.
“We’d like to thank APG Solar because they helped make this possible,” said Detwiler.
The family also expressed being very grateful to Patt Walbridge from Modesto who sold several of her large Christmas set pieces to Christmas on Sycamore. Detwiler mentioned that, without her assistance, they likely wouldn’t have been much larger this year.
For more information, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ChristmasOnSycamoreSt2012.
