This was in our local paper today.........
Computerized Christmas lights make for awesome display
PUNTA GORDA -- Fifteen years ago, Robin Stublen started decorating his yard with one Frosty the Snowman. Five years ago, he had a full-fledged display taking on a life of its own, and quickly turning into a year-round hobby.
The display at 30361 Alder Road in Punta Gorda features about 100,000 lights, 25,000 of which are computer-controlled and synchronized to music.
"This is an awesome sight," Stublen said Monday.
The lights are on from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and the show will continue through New Year's Day for everyone to enjoy. Stublen's home on Alder is located in the Ridge Harbor subdivision off U.S. 17.
"The complete sequence of synchronized holiday music lasts for approximately 30 minutes and loops continuously," Stublen said. "You can listen to the music by tuning your car radio to 107.5 FM."
When he started planning his decorations years ago, Stublen found two online sites -- planetchristmas.com and lightorama.com -- where he could purchase displays and learn how to operate them.
"I started stringing the lights Nov. 1 and spent 14 to 15 hours on the roof," Stublen said. "The tree took six hours, (it took) 10 hours to put the (strings of lights) down and by the time I was done, it took close to 100 hours to put it all up.
"But it will only take half of that time to take it down."
Stublen said he uses more than a mile of extension cords and five miles of actual strings of lights in the display.
This is one of the largest outdoor Christmas light displays in the area and is on its third year synchronized with music, keeping alive a popular Charlotte County tradition.
"I think we have the largest lighted nativity scene," Stublen said. "The big tree has 6,500 lights, and each mini-tree has about 200 lights."
According to Stublen, his electricity bill is the least of his worries. Since the lights are computerized -- when one display is on the others are dark -- it is only a couple of hundred dollars extra, he said. "When you come out to see the lights, you will not see the same show twice," he added.
Stublen said visitors can park in a nearby vacant lot and walk around the edge of the display, but he cautions them not to walk onto the display because of all of the wiring.
"Anyone can do this if they want to," Stublen said. "We do an actual program, and my daughter does the welcome."
This year, Stublen has put up a Kiwanis sign and a collection bucket asking spectators to make a donation to the Punta Gorda Kiwanis and Kiwanis Foundation of Charlotte County. The foundation provides scholarships for local high school students.
