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Christmas joy at the push of a button

Scott Anderson has been decorating his yard since 2016, but this time he went ‘big’
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The Anderson home at 4764 204A St. in Langley City is all lit up for the holidays, in large part thanks to new LED technology. (Jim McGregor/Special to Langley Advance Times)

by Jim McGregor/Special to Langley Advance Times

As motorist drive along Grade Crescent, they can’t miss Scott Anderson’s house lighting up the corner at 204A Street.

His combination of interactive and static displays have specators’ eyes dancing all over the lawn trying to take in all that’s going on.

“I’ve been decorating my home here since 2016, and last year was the first year I went to LED. And this year is the first year we have done a big display,” he shared with the Langley Advance Times.

“This is our plan to get us into the Christmas spirit. We could all do with a little more joy right now,” he added.

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Anderson calls his display “Oh Christmas Tree” to highlight the digital Christmas tree he built for this season.

“Building that tree was quite the project. We wanted something different this year, so we decided on a digital tree that we can program to do many different things. We have Christmas gifts, reindeer, Santas, and many other designs that scroll across the tree in 30 second intervals. It was more work than we anticipated, but the results are great,” Anderson explained.

It took about a week to build and incorporates programmable pixels that allow him to choose designs and patterns. Anderson points out that the tree is all app controlled from his smartphone and he can control the designs with a push of button.

He’s also added permanent Christmas lights on his house during the past year.

“The lights are LED and they stay up year round. You can’t see them until you turn them on. They are also programmable so we can turn them on green for St. Patrick’s Day or orange for Halloween.”

With more than tens of thousands of lights, Anderson said his display is as much or more for the neighbours, than his family.

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“We love to see the parade of cars coming by and the kids hanging out the windows or sticking their heads up out of the sunroofs. It’s good to see the neighbours getting into the spirit, as well. Every year, we see more displays going up in the cul-de-sac. One of the neighbours suggested calling this Christmas Tree Lane and getting everyone involved. We’ve doubled the amount of lights in the cul-de-sac this year.”

Anderson is the designer and installer of the lights and trees.

“I go a little bigger each year. Next year, I plan to have interactive music. It takes about two weeks to set up, doing a few hours each night, but I’m the ‘Griswald’ and I enjoy the results. By not having to install lights on the eaves this year, I could concentrate on the other projects.”

Anderson’s house will be on the list of “lights to see,” put out by the Langley Advance Times.

He hopes more people stop by and see Christmas technology at its best.

“I’m afraid it might be insane next year. Maybe we’ll get the city to change the street name to Christmas Tree Lane next season. A woodworker in our cul-de-sac is already making the sign,” Anderson concluded.

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