Christmas Weekend

I headed down to Charlotte last thursday to celebrate Christmas with J&C in their new house. Well new since April, this was the innagural Christmas. Mom arrived on thursday too. The house was decorated beautifully! C could have her own decorating or cooking show on cable :) 3 decorated trees including one old school aluminum style. They had done their research and drove us by two amazing outdoor decorations. Christmastown USA, I was napping - but we prob sat in traffic for at least 45 minutes before we even made it into the neighborhood, and continued moving at a snail's pace through Christmastown. It was very cool :) People come from all over the US to see Christmastown. Just make sure you leave plenty of time... they mean business when they say it ends at 9pm. (ERT - you never told me you had your own town!) Another less known smaller display, but no less cool, was a single family home that was decked out with lights choreographed to music. The guy had music broadcast over a radio station you could pick up within 500 ft of his house. Many of his neighbors joined in the fun and went overboard on their houses. These people are serious about their christmas lights! J&C surprised mom by taking us to a Christmas Eve service at the church of our old choir director from home. It was great to see them and put a smile on her face :) Christmas morning I surprised everyone by coming downstairs dressed as an ELF! Josh couldn't believe I had dressed up. It was fun :) If I can figure out how to post a video on here I will. Everyone must have been really good last year, Santa was very generous. The weekend was rounded off by a visit from Grandpa & B on sunday. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend shared with family. Can't beat that!

McAdenville Story:
from http://features.aroundcarolina.com/mcadenville/
~The quiet little town of McAdenville, which lies along the South Fork River in Gaston County, N.C., comes alive in spectacular fashion each year as Christmas draws near. This is the 48th year the small textile town, population about 800, once again transforms into "Christmas Town, U.S.A."
~The McAdenville Christmas Lights date back to 1956, when the McAdenville Men's Club conceived the idea of using lights to decorate a few trees around the McAdenville Community Center. Nine trees were decorated that first year.
~This year, from December 2 to 26, you can see more than 450,000 red, green and white bulbs on some 400 trees. Hours are Monday through Friday, 5:30-9:30 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 5:30-11:00 pm. From December 22-26 the lights will glow from 5:30 p.m. until 11:00 pm.
~Town residents add to the light show, decorating houses in their own original styles. By the carload and busload, people come from all over the country to see the display.
~One of the favorite spots for viewers is the lake which is situated near the heart of town. There are 75 trees, ranging in size from 15 to 30 feet, which circle the lake. A fountain located in the center of the lake jets water 75 feet into the air.
~Overlooking the lake is a large display of Santa and his reindeer. The display is nine feet tall and 75 feet long, just another way for the residents of McAdenville to say Merry Christmas.

Christmas Future:
from the Charlotte Observer - Dec 15, 2004 Steve Lyttle
30,000 LIGHTS. 600 YARDS OF ELECTRIC CABLE 100 YARDS OF COMPUTER CABLE. 107.5 ON THE FM DIAL.
~It's time to put Santa in the retirement home and Rudolph in the barn. Jeff Lacey is the future of Christmas. Well, the future of Christmas light displays, at least.
~Lacey's high-tech combination -- radio broadcasts of holiday music to passing cars, with 30,000 lights that seemingly dance in time to the music -- is luring big crowds to his Mint Hill home and providing a glimpse into the future of Christmas decorations.
~"I could have thrown a ton of lights up, but I'm going for the oohs and ahhs," said Lacey, a quality systems consultant when he's not programming lights and music.
~Using software from Kansas-based Animated Lighting Limited, Lacey spent hours writing computer programs that synchronize each of the 40-plus displays in his yard to any of 10 Christmas songs.
~"It takes almost a day to program a song," Lacey said.
~The music is broadcast over a low-wattage FM radio station (107.5) with a range of about 500 feet along Forrest Rader Drive in the St. Ives subdivision.
~Mark Spencer, marketing director for Animated Lighting Limited, said Lacey's program is "next-generation" for home holiday displays but added a caution: Don't try this at home, unless you've got a lot of computer savvy.
~"The challenge for companies like ours will be to lower the technical hurdle more," Spencer said, adding that his company produces preprogrammed products for those not willing to spend the time Lacey did. In the subculture of Christmas-light lovers, Lacey is king.
~"It's far and away the most incredible display I have seen," said Ray McCrodden, another Mint Hill resident whose home displays have been a big hit for a decade. "It's what you'd expect to see at Disney World."
~Lacey and his wife, Sandra, have added a charitable element, putting up a sign asking passersby to show their appreciation by donating food items to Jackson Park Ministries, a nonprofit group that helps a low-income west Charlotte neighborhood.
~"I couldn't do this without the support of my neighbors," Lacey said. "They've been patient with all the traffic, and many of them have put up big light displays of their own."