Lighting up Lakelands

Planning a Christmas display is a year-round project for Mark Connors.

“I start thinking about what I want to do next year right after I take down this year’s display,” Connors said.

The Lakelands resident took up the hobby of Christmas light sequencing — pairing light patterns with music — three years ago when one of his three daughters noticed it was getting late in the season and her father had yet to decorate their yard.

“It was getting pretty late in the season and it didn’t look like I’d get to it,” Connors recalled.

“I could tell she was pretty disappointed so that pushed me to do something new.”

Connors, an electronics technician, turned to the vast world of the Internet to find some unique home decorating ideas that would prove he had not lost any love for the holiday season.

Since he discovered the art of Christmas light sequencing, Connors’ merry display has grown to include about 10,000 lights connected by more than 90 extension chords and four main controllers, 16 blow moulds in a variety of festive shapes, eight artificial Christmas trees, a 15-foot mega Christmas tree, 10-foot tall beeping light arches and a 15-foot Bethlehem Star — to name a few things.

“The programming is the thing that takes… the longest. It can take upwards of six to 10 hours per minute of song for programming,” Connors said, adding that it is imperative to get everything flashing at the perfect moment.

“When you go in and sequence… you’re trying to capture the mood of the song and some action in the song and try to get your elements to time along with that.”

It takes a solid two weeks to set up the display. Connors builds new lawn arrangements throughout the summer months to ensure everything is ready a few weeks before Santa Claus comes to town.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to go on a number of Disney World vacations with our children (and) I know that Children’s Wish supports sending kids to Disney World.” - Mark Connors

“I do it just for my own enjoyment. If other people get some enjoyment out of it, that’s great,” Connors said, adding that he has seen some amusing reactions to his ever-evolving displays.

“They look at me with bewilderment with most of the time, like ‘You really took all of the time to do this?’”

He says people are typically surprised to learn his display only added an extra $40 to his electric bill last year.

“It’s running mostly LEDs, and the lights are hardly ever all on at same time.”

Connors only knows of two other people in Nova Scotia who transform their homes into light sequencing shows for the holidays. Knowing this, he’s decided to use his rare hobby to collect money for the Children’s Wish Foundation this year.

A donation box for the Children’s Wish Foundation is nestled amid the busy lights and decorations on Connors lawn at 1080 Highway 1. Every donation placed in the box, which is under constant video surveillance, will be presented to the not-for-profit foundation that aims to put smiles on the faces of children living with life-threatening illnesses.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to go on a number of Disney World vacations with our children (and) I know that Children’s Wish supports sending kids to Disney World,” Connors said of his choice in charity.

“I just wanted a chance to, hopefully, do something for kids.”

The lights are on at the Connors house from 5-9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday evenings. Motorists can tune in to 107.9 FM to hear the music through a car radio.