From our home, to your home; this holiday season,
We light up these boxes; and give you a reason,
To share with the children, the stories of old
To make our hearts glad; whenever they’re told
Our old stone farm house first had Christmas lights about 1980. The lights were initially modest (several strands of lights on the bushes at the front of the property).
As the family grew, more lights were added and some hand-made decorations appeared. Plywood was cut into the shapes of Christmas trees, wreaths and candy canes. The wreaths were 4’ tall and the candy canes were up to 8’ tall. They were painted and had holes drilled through the wood and 5 watt lights were inserted through the holes. These early efforts remain in storage. Perhaps we will refurbish them and put them back out (they’ve been in storage for over 10 years).
Our Christmas display in only turned on after Remembrance Day has passed. We consider it fitting to start the celebration of Christmas once respect has been paid to our veterans, past and present. The display operates from 5pm to 10pm. The first night for the display is the Sunday after Remembrance Day has passed. The last night for the display is Dec. 31.
About 1990 we started purchasing decorations from stores. We had been watching the types of items being sold in stores and the design and colour were now desirable. However, we needed to buy multiple items and the only way to do this was to shop the sales that occurred when Christmas was over and the merchandise was discounted. Shopping for bargains became the quest. Buying in ‘bulk’ became the norm.
In 1999 the Eatons Company was closing stores and we purchased 8 wooden boxes/stands. We cut open one side of the box and decorated the inside and added animated toys ( some of which were retrofitted by our “robotics” son to move and talk). The opening of the box was covered with clear plexi-glass and the top had roll roofing. Each of the boxes was on its own wooden stand and the set of boxes was installed every Fall at the front curve in the driveway. This part of the display was call ‘The Eatons Eight’ (not that any of the contents were ever on display at Eatons). I once asked a friend, who had actually worked on the real window displays at Eatons in Toronto, about the original display material. He smiled and said that once the display had ended that all the items had ‘grown legs and walked away’.
The eight initial animated storyboxes boxes were so popular that we quickly added more. In October we would bring wooden bases out of storage and line both sides of the driveway. All of the boxes had handles on the sides so 2 people could carry them out of storage and place them on the bases. However, the ‘bigger’ boxes were so heavy that it was necessary to have 4 people carry them. Once the season was over we had to put everything back into storage.
Eventually, common sense prevailed and we started to leave the boxes in place all year long. Once the season is over we simply cover them with a tarp to protect the contents from being affected by the summer sun.
As noted earlier the beginning years involved the property just in front of the house. We were able to accomplish a lot in that specific area. But, like most thing, you reach a point where you start to think about further expansion. We then cut an opening through the cedar hedge on the south side of the driveway. The new path opened up a 10,000 square foot area that needed to be filled. But, this ‘lower’ field always floods with ground water in the spring. We quickly learned that once the display season was over we had to quickly pull up the extension cords and put all display items away in storage. Eventually, we built permanent display boxes on the field by mounting them on 4 x 4 posts that go into the ground.
Obviously, all the preparation required more and more help and we were ( and still are) regularly calling on students who may need volunteer hours, acquaintances and friends to volunteer to help put up and take down the display. This lead to the tradition of the ‘Lights on Party’. After months of work every Fall (plus the usual last minute rush) we would invite family and friends to join us for a celebration. In the early years the party would consist of a ‘pot luck’ dinner and there would be about 150 people attending. After dinner everyone would get dressed in their winter clothing and go out the front of the house. Matthew and Zachary would have the 12 digital timers synchronized and the crowd would count down from 10. With luck, when the countdown hit 0, the lights would turn on and the music would start. There would be so much to see as you simply turned around. Every display box had its own special music being broadcast from speakers. It was/is really magical for everyone.
In 2006 we attended the public auction of a famous GTA garden company and purchased several large fiberglass display items (all featuring Santa). We also purchased 6 large painted wooden cut-outs. Visitors love to stand behind the cut-outs and have their pictures taken. Parents have been seen crouching behind the various scenes and holding their children so that a picture of the moment can be captured.
As is usually the case things kept expanding until one fateful night in 2007 when ‘the lights went out’. Someone (whose name will not be mentioned) turned on the electric stove and electric clothes dryer. When you live in the countryside the first thing to do is go outside and look down the road to see if your neighbours are also in darkness (they weren’t!). Some visitors out in the display area assured us that they hadn’t touched anything. Eventually, we found our way to the main fuse panel for the house and reset the main breaker. Later we had an electrician inspect the panel and learned that the panel was rated for 400 amps and it was impractical to make it any larger. The answer was to dry all laundry before the display lights turned on at 5pm – problem solved (sort of).
But, in 2008 there was an economic downturn and many big box stores were left with large quantities of the new LED Christmas lights. Eventually, it seemed like the price of lights was ridiculously low and action was needed. At that time Paul was driving a 4 door Corolla. He learned that he could fit about 200 boxes of lights into his car (a tight fit) and started bringing home about 6000 lights per shopping trip. That year we shifted from incandescent lights to LED. With the reduction of power demand we could then buy more lights. Every year we buy more lights, and in 2018 we bought another 200 boxes of lights. Paul has been known to off-load new purchase in the dark so as to not alarm his wife, but he suspects that she has figured out his modus operandi after many years of marriage.
The display has now become a ‘family tradition’ for many of the people who return every year. Grandparents bring grandchildren, parents bring their children and sometimes 3 generations are there at the same time – simply enjoying themselves. The only electronics in anyone’s hands are the cameras and phones they are using to record memories. Several years ago we met a young couple with their first child. They describe how they had been coming here for years as they were dating, and then one year, amongst the sounds and lights of the display, he had gone down on one knee and proposed. The next year they were married. They explained that now they had started their own family that coming here was their own new family tradition. This was their child’s first visit to the display!
There are many great Christmas displays in Ontario and we try and put up outside a list of other good displays. Many of these displays have a big ‘wow’ factor. You can stand on the sidewalk, or stay in your car, and listen as the light dance to the music. Our display is not electronically sophisticated. You park your car and get out and walk around. Most of the displays are built at ‘kid height’, which means that some adults have to bend over to look into the boxes. It takes 20 minutes to walk around, and usually the kids want to go back for one last look at a specific display that has captured their imagination. The time is special because grown-ups and children get to talk with each other. The experience forms memories for kids and re-kindles memories for parents and grandparents.
A common question is ‘how many lights do you have’. The answer is that we really don’t know. The other answer is to say “if you know how many lights you have, then you don’t have enough”. However, we do check that the approximately 15 circuits we use never exceed 10 amps.
There are 16 different locations in the large display where music is playing, or stories are being read aloud. There are approximately 1000 electrical plug connections that need to be made and over 800 extension cords need to be laid out. It used to take around 900 hours to set up the whole display. However, we had made modifications and gotten the set-up time down to 400 hours. We rely on family and dear friends to donate their time and energy to the effort, and it wouldn’t happen without their generous spirit. The set up starts in late September, picks up speed in October and must be done by the middle of November. However, the display take down can’t wait till spring. A long time ago we discovered that if extension cords are left under the frozen leaves and snow they become a target for mice to chew on (and nothing good comes from that). So on January the 1st we go out (in the cold and snow) and start to lift up as many of the extension cords and lights as is possible.
We do have a donation box set up in the display area and 100% of the money donated is given to the support children at the Halton Women’s Shelters. The Singleton’s pay for the entire cost of the display. They believe that they have been very fortunate in their lives and feel that sharing with others is the right thing to do. Every year people ask how much we charge to ‘enter’. The answer is simple, “there is no charge; it’s Christmas”.
Beside the donation box is a gift box. Inside that box there is a free gift for the children (usually a tree ornament). We encourage each child to take one, either for themselves, or to give as a gift to a friend. It is never too early to teach the importance of giving.
We welcome you to our family friendly display and wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Barb and Paul Singleton
