Crazy Christmas Lights

Crazy Christmas Lights

Looking to get into the Christmas spirit? Pile the family into the car and take a drive to Hastings to see Brian Dainard’s truly spectacular Christmas lights display.

Brian is a wonderful, kind man with a generous heart. He started making Christmas lights dance to the music about 10 years ago. His love for over-the-top lighting started as a child. “I’ve always loved Christmas lights. We only had one window on the front of the house. My Mom would tape the window in sections, put a string of lights around it and spray fake snow. To me, we had the most beautiful lights in town. When I got older, there was a house between Havelock and Campbellford where they had a huge light display. We went there every year, and there would be Santa sitting in the garage on Christmas Eve to greet the kids. It was awesome, and I always thought how amazing it was that they would open up their home to perfect strangers on Christmas Eve. I absolutely loved it”, says Brian.

To set all the lights up is very time consuming. Brian tells us, “It usually takes the month of November to set it up (he laughs), but the prep work for some of it starts much earlier. I usually order new lights by late spring.” There are approximately 40,000 lights this year. “I don’t keep track anymore, it’s a job in itself just trying to keep count”, Brian laughs.

The lights dance in time to songs that Brian programs into a computer. “10 years ago, it was 100% me having to program it. It used to take me 40 – 60 hours of computer programming for just one song. But with the new pixel lighting and software that’s on the market now, it’s getting faster and easier to program a light show. I could cut that back to about 4 hours.” He wants to switch over to these new lights “but it all takes time and money, neither of which I seem to have.” (Brian laughs) Each year the show gets more and more dramatic. There will be a few signifi cant additions, but not as much as I wanted to add”, he told us.

You can listen to the music on your car radio at 88.1 FM. “Some people think that I have my own radio station.” (he laughs) So you may ask, what is the extra cost to Brian’s hydro bill? “It typically costs between $100 and $150 extra for December. This year might be slightly higher with the new pixels. They use more power than the LED lights do.”

Luckily, his neighbours don’t mind. “They have been very supportive of it all. I try to make sure people coming to watch understand how important it is to be respectful of my neighbours”, said Brian.

So why spend all this time and money for just one month? Brian explains, “I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that people are willing to drive from all over to watch the light show. I’m constantly looking out the window to see how many cars are out there watching the show that I’ve created. It feels pretty good. Years ago, I got a thank you letter in my mailbox. The light show gave this lady and her mom time to sit, drink a tea and spend time together and it was so appreciated. That note meant so much to me. That’s what it’s all about, spending time with loved ones, even something as simple as watching Christmas lights. Christmas can be a stressful time of year and can be hard fi nancially. You can stop and watch the lights and it doesn’t cost a cent.”

Not only is it fun to see, but you can also help others in the process. Brian says, “I don’t do it for money, I do it because I love to see it, and love to see other people see it. But it got to the point where people were knocking on the door trying to give me money (he laughs). So we decided that we would put a donation box out. We would forward 100% of it on to charities that we like

and believe in. So donations from the fi rst half of December go to “The Angel Tree”, because we believe that every child should have a present to open on Christmas morning. The second half of the month goes to Lakefi eld Animal welfare society, the Jumpstart program, the Issac Foundation, the Canadian Hero fund, Children’s Wish and Sick Kids Hospital. We’re proud to say that we’ve forwarded on $10,766.52 to these groups over the years. In March of this year we lost a dear friend, Brent Grattan, to Epilepsy. Brent was also one of the biggest fans of my light show, so I’d like the money from the second half of December to go to something in Brent’s honor towards Epilepsy. There is a video on our Facebook page, where Brent discusses candidly his struggles with Epilepsy. It is an amazing, heart-wrenching video that he recorded just 2 days before he died.”

Santa stops in for a visit on Christmas Eve usually from about 5:30 - 7:30. Brian told us, “We have hot chocolate and little bags of candy for the kids. To me, there’s always something magical about Christmas Eve, and being able to see Santa and have one last chance to tell him what you’d like for Christmas is always a fun time. It makes for a lot of priceless moments for us, the parents and especially the kids.”

The address is 35 Queen Street West in Hastings. But just head to Hastings and follow the lights in the sky, you can’t miss it!. You can also check out last years show on Brian’s Facebook page “Hastings Christmas Light Show” or on Brian’s YouTube channel. But the absolute best way to see them is in person. In the spirit of Christmas, bring your loose change to donate. Brian Dainard has the true spirit of Christmas.