His father was looking at YouTube and watching homes with Christmas lights timed with music. And he fell in love with it. Being his favorite time of the year, he told his son Michael Balazs if he were able, he was going to do it to his house the next year. Balazs’ father passed away from cancer in 2009, so in his memory he set out to do exactly what his father wanted. Seven years and 30,000 Christmas lights later, his Christmas wonderland is tucked away in a small cul-de-sac in Santee, with a line of children ready to watch the show and on the night of Dec.
His father was looking at YouTube and watching homes with Christmas lights timed with music. And he fell in love with it. Being his favorite time of the year, he told his son Michael Balazs if he were able, he was going to do it to his house the next year. Balazs’ father passed away from cancer in 2009, so in his memory he set out to do exactly what his father wanted. Seven years and 30,000 Christmas lights later, his Christmas wonderland is tucked away in a small cul-de-sac in Santee, with a line of children ready to watch the show and on the night of Dec. 17, sit down and tell the Grinch what they want for Christmas.
This light show, timed with holiday favorites by Pentatonix, “Let it Go,” “Text Me Merry Christmas” and many more, his house dances through the trees, snowmen, reindeer, signs and strings of light as Santa Claus “virtually” watches from the middle window as he checks his lists, gets ready to fill his bag and occasionally stops and waves to the people outside. It is fascinating to watch and it is not only the neighborhood that is coming out to see what he has built over the years. Many follow him on Facebook to see when the Grinch is visiting, changes he’s made or whether it has been rained out.
Balazs said Jim Carrey is one of his favorite actors and his portrayal of the Grinch was interesting.
“But not only that, Santa Claus is everywhere for Christmas and the only place to see the Grinch is at Universal Studios, so I brought the Grinch down here,” he said. “A buddy of mine does special effects makeup and we said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
In the beginning he did this for himself and the memory of his father. But people began asking to donate, so he began by donating to the American Cancer Society. Now, raising around $1,000 a year, he feels that the money is better put to use in donating the money to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Santee Santas. He said with the little money he raises each year, he feels that this gives a greater impact. “When I do donate, I want it to go further,” he said. “And it fits in because I do my lightshow for kids.”
“It takes approx 10 volunteers to put together the show and It takes me eight to 10 hours per minute of song to synchronized with the music,” said Balazs. “The only thing I get from this is purely people saying how much they enjoyed watching the show. And when I walk outside and see little kids in front of the house dancing to the music and lights it makes me smile and I know my father is looking down smiling as well.”
Last year Balazs was recognized by Sen. Joel Anderson with the Senate Certificate of Volunteer Service. His neighbors have gotten involved and one has a sign on his roof that says, “DITTO” with an arrow to his house and the other neighbor has a sign that says, “Show Off.”
“It is all in good fun,” he said. “They all love the show and support it 100 percent.”
A U.S. Navy Chief Mineman, Balazs said he had no idea in the beginning how difficult putting a show like this together was. But he said the time and effort is well worth the many hours of work when he looks out and sees the kids dancing outside of his house during the show.
Details about the show.
There are 30,000 lights, 478 computer controlled channels, 11 Light O Rama Controllers, three Cosmic Color LED Ribbons capable of producing 1.5 million colors of light, nine songs with new ones added throughout the show. Balazs did a complete shift to professional LED lighting which cuts his power to the same power as a vacuum cleaner. The cost of electricity is about $50 to $70 each month.
It runs through Jan. 2, Sunday – Thursday 5:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m., and Friday – Saturday 5:30 p.m.-11:00 p.m. For more information or updates visit www.dbchristmas.com/ Facebook is www.facebook.com/dbchristmas.
