This Christmas Lights Display Features 160,000 Lights

When most people were trying to figure out what candy to buy for Halloween or which costumes their kids were going to wear, Larry Drum, Brian Todd and Chris Hoard were putting the finishing touches on their Christmas preparations.

The three homeowners on Bryn Ridge Court in Cumming boast one of the most popular Christmas lights displays in Georgia. There's over 160,000 lights on their small street in Forsyth County.

"It takes you back to that whole 'Christmas Vacation' movie and that one neighbor on your block that everybody looks at and says we can't wait for him to turn his lights on to see what it looks like," said Byrn Court homeowner Chris Hoard describing Drum's house.

This is the fifth year of the "Christmas in Cumming" holiday lights animated display. The year prior to it, Drum displayed a few lights outside, but nothing like it is now.

"The next year, we added a bunch more lights and I got into this whole animated controller thing with the music and it kind of grew from there," Drum said. "The second year with animation, we did the second house. We decorated it up and people started coming, parking in the street and watching."

Todd got talked into joining the fun in 2009, though it wasn't Drum that convinced him.

"In the beginning, Larry had a computerized lights show and I had just regular lights on the house," Todd said. "Tucker, my son, kept asking me why doesn't our house blink like Larry's. After talking to Larry and kind of putting a plan together, we got incorporated into the show and so our house blinks just like Larry's along with the songs, and my boys love it."

The 160,000-lights display is computer programmed, and the lights dance to 12 different songs each night in Cumming. The music is broadcast over 88.1 FM so visitors can tune in while driving through the display in Haley Farms subdivision. Programming the display took about four months and started in May.

The show starts at 5:30 p.m. each day. The lights go off at 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The trio said the final show this year will be New Year's Day.

Drum, Todd and Hoard told wsbtv.com that visitors often ask several questions about the display. One of the top questions is about the December electricity bill.

"It's not too bad," Drum said. "With the computer controlling that we do and the lights are blinking and flashing and dimming and not running at full power all the time, it's not that bad."

Hoard said he buys LED lights, and his power bill really doesn't change much in December.

The Christmas in Cumming display also serves as a fundraiser for Family Haven this year. The nonprofit's mission is to aid violence victims. Family Haven provides a 24-hour crisis hot line, emergency shelter, food and clothing and counseling services.

On Wednesday, the woman behind the song many animated lights displays across the country use will make an appearance at the Christmas in Cumming display. Grammy Nominated singer Judy Pancoast will perform "The House on Christmas Street" that night at 6 p.m.

Pancoast wrote the song in 1998 as a tribute to those homeowners who go out of their way to deck their houses in lights and pageantry each Christmas season.

“Everywhere I’ve lived there’s been one of those houses,” says Pancoast. “It’s the one that everybody goes to see during the holidays. I have wonderful memories of going to see them as a kid, and when I was in my 20s there was actually one house that cheered me during a very depressing chapter in my life.”

Pancoast is spending the holiday season driving around the country and performing live public concerts on the lawns, porches and driveways of houses that are using her song in their displays. She’s literally going in a circle around the country, from New Hampshire to Washington to Texas to Florida and Georgia. She was even flown to the United Kingdom by a fan to perform at his house lighting on Dec. 1.

As for Drum, Todd and Hoard, visitors shouldn't be surprised to see them with pencil and paper on a tour of the street. The three said it's pretty much a year-round project now. In fact, they are already planning next year's display.

Click on Christmas in Cumming on Facebook to learn more.