, 76°
Wind: mph,
An electric meter spins out of control, a large switch labeled “Auxiliary Nuclear” is flipped and 25,000 twinkle lights cast a glow over an entire street.
That is a famous scene from the film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” but what is it really like to create a neighborhood light spectacle in 2025? Two families took the Severna Park Voice behind the curtain to reveal details about their displays.
Address: 1049 Rustling Oaks Drive, Millersville
Specs: Estimated 10,000 to 15,000 lights
Shortly after Jim and Jeanine Malena moved to the Shipley’s Choice community in 2009, Jim started adorning their home each year for the holidays. The effort started with pine trees, wreaths, and lights strung on trees before growing into a full-scale display.
“I try to tell a story. I try to set up little scenes if I can so it’s not random,” Jim said. “The past few years, I had a broken-down pirate ship with skeletons for Halloween. I left that up and dressed the skeletons in Santa and elf costumes and have had them handing out presents.”
The Malena family won the Severna Park Voice’s 2021 holiday lights contest after readers and online followers voted the display as their favorite.
During December, red and green lights glow over the home’s brick exterior. An inflatable Santa rides down the sidewalk with his reindeer. Lights gleam from an arch over the driveway.
Jim has help from Jeanine and their three kids — ages 16, 14 and 14. Over the last few years, they have added more inflatables. For 2024, they filled their lawn with penguins sledding downhill and Charlie Brown characters.
Another recent addition: large string lights made using a creative method.
“I used soda bottles, planters and foam pipes, and I spray-painted them,” Jim explained.
YouTube tutorials, followed by the onset of Wi-Fi-enabled outlets and apps, have made the endeavor easier to pull off.
Jim prefers LED lights to incandescent ones. “I like adding a twinkle feature in certain bushes,” he said. “I like the red, white and green look. I’m not a huge fan of the pure white.”
Although he likes pure white for certain aspects, pointing to an ice-skating rink that used blue lights intermixed with white lights to create the appearance of ice.
Jim has lit up the trees for other holidays, including Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, but Christmastime gets the most attention. He begins work on the display by early November so that it is ready to be turned on by Thanksgiving weekend. It takes a few weeks to put together.
“I don’t do it for the gratification of the neighbors, but it’s really nice,” Jim said. “I like it to be bright. I like people to slow down and look at it and have a chuckle.”
Address: 119 Sherburn Road, Severna Park
Specs: Over 6,000 lights, with music
On Sherburn Road, three wide-eyed, toothless trees sing to onlookers each holiday season. Meanwhile, snowflakes on the windows blink in unison with lights on the roof and front lawn.
Since 2018, Eric Palasik has transformed his parents’ Severna Park home into a synchronized lights display. With a background in electrical engineering, Eric became intrigued with the idea of creating an animated light show, and he persuaded his dad, Ray Palasik, to help with other parts of the display including hanging lights on the gutters and roof.
“I used to be really into Christmas as a kid and then I became an adult. I have a background that is adjacent, so I wanted to try it,” he said of the synchronized setup. “I knew how to solder a wire and do some electrical work and calculations.”
Eric uses three controllers: one on the porch and two in the garage, and all the wires snake from those spots to the yard. To connect it all, he uses a Raspberry Pi.
“A Raspberry Pi is like a minicomputer, like a hobbyist computer, and that schedules everything,” he shared. “It sends data (to a router or other device) and sends an FM signal to the controller.”
The display is the same each year, with different songs that people can hear when turning their radios to 93.5 FM. This year, the Palasiks are choosing from a list of songs that includes Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run,” and one popular returning song, “You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”
“We keep the show pretty small, usually four songs, so it’s about 12 minutes long,” Eric said.
Eric often gets asked about the electric bill and how homeowners make it affordable.
“All the lights run on direct current (DC) power. Your house is on alternating current (AC) power,” he said. “DC power is way smaller voltage. Your house is run at about 120 volts. These are run at about 12 volts. I read on a forum once that it’s about the same as running a hairdryer for 30 seconds.”
As elaborate as the display appears, it has become more manageable with time. Also, it has been part of some big moments. Eric used the lights to propose to his now-wife in 2021.
The father-son team have also found fun ways to make it special for the community.
“One of the cooler and lesser-known things about the show is that there is a board of lights that my dad and I can text messages to and it will scroll the message in lights,” Eric said. “If someone we know is out there or if we happen to be out there and see a family with kids, we can scroll something like ‘Merry Christmas Eric!’ across the board, which is normally a pretty big hit.”
For Eric and Ray, the effort is all worthwhile when they receive joyful feedback.
“We have never done the letters to Santa that people put in a mailbox, but we have had people shove notes in our mailbox or our porch in children’s handwriting,” Eric said. “When my dad gets these, he screenshots them and sends them to me … That part makes it all worth it. It’s cool to be on the other end and super gratifying.”
The display is expected to run from 5:00pm-9:00pm daily starting Thanksgiving weekend. For updates, follow the “410 Lights” Facebook page or Instagram account @410Lights. Four videos from the 2023 show are available to view on YouTube under the account PalasikE.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here