Why this Idaho Falls house is decorated in thousands of lights
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IDAHO FALLS — Why did Larry Owens decide to don every little nook and cranny of his roof and yard at 1385 Lowell Drive in west Idaho Falls with decorations and lights, then set them all to music and animation? Even when it takes hours to put up and take down, hours to program, and money to get the equipment and 75,000 lights?
Because it’s Christmas!
Owens has fond memories of putting up lights with his dad, and now his son helps him. Adding all the cool stuff just makes it that much better.
Owens got started after seeing an animated Christmas light and music show house in Utah.
“I watched it for a while, then I knocked on his door. He told me how to get started,” he said.
The day after Christmas that year, Owens bought a load of Christmas lights, headed back to Idaho, and got going on the next year’s show.
Besides putting up lights and figuring out where to position his figurines — which this year includes a full nativity, multiple trees, several Disney characters, snowmen, candy canes, and much more — Owens has to program the lights to music, which takes hours.
“It takes two hours to program 15 seconds,” he said. There isn’t any specific way to do this, so Owens has developed his own approach. “First I pick the song, and then I get the rhythm. I listen to the melody. Then I pick out the percussion, drums, trumpet, and I mark those. Those are the key points where something needs to happen. A lot of it is imagination.”
He explained that the lights are controlled by a computer using Light-O-Rama software and hardware; each string is plugged into a hardware controller, and all the controllers are networked together and link back to the computer.
Several years ago when he switched to LED lights, his electric bill went way down, and he also got more capabilities, like switching colors without running so many different strings of lights.
“I’ve thought about stopping,” he said. “When it gets close to Thanksgiving and I’m out in the cold putting up lights I think, ‘Why am I doing this?’”
And then he gets amazing feedback from those who have seen the show, and many who have even made watching it an annual family tradition.
“I see the smiles and it makes it all worthwhile,” he said.
One email he received reminds him: “This is the best show that I have ever seen.”
That kind of encouragement keeps him going. If you have enjoyed his lights, send him an email at owenslights@gmail.com or visit his website at www.owenslights.com for more details. The 30=minute show runs on a loop from 5 to 10 p.m. now until New Year’s Eve.