{"id":8763,"date":"2022-12-16T16:31:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T16:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=8763"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:48:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:48:54","slug":"painting-the-night-sky-with-120000-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2022\/12\/16\/painting-the-night-sky-with-120000-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Painting the night sky with 120,000 lights"},"content":{"rendered":"
Traveling north up Guess Road, the darkness of the trees and fleeting houses is broken up suddenly by flashing lights. On the right side of the road sits a winter wonderland with a sign telling people to \u201cTune in to 90.3 F.M.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Searching through your radio you’ll find that all the flashing lights you see in front of you are synchronized to each beat and lyric of Christmas music. There are 120,000 lights in blue, yellow, purple, green, pink, and red. They light up Mr. and Mrs. Claus, trees, \u201cHo Ho Ho\u201d signs, a nativity scene, Snoopy, toy soldiers, a snowman holding a countdown to Christmas sign, and more. The playlist is 68 songs long, spanning from \u201c<\/span>Santa Claus Is Coming To Town\u201d by Mariah Carey to \u201cYabba Dabba Yuletide\u201d by Brian Setzer Orchestra.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The house at 7510 Guess Road is dripping in cheer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mary Jane and Te<\/span>rry<\/span>\u00a0Mangum are the self-named \u201cCrew of Two\u201d who put the show together. When describing how the<\/span>\u00a0tradition began, Terry and Mary Jane chuckle. Terry describes it as an \u201caffliction\u201d more than anything else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mary Jane is from Brooklyn, New York and in 1979 the couple visited her childhood neighborhood. Terry was entranced by<\/span>\u00a0the lights along the street. \u201cI just really like Christmas lights,\u201d Terry says. They got married in 1<\/span>986, moved into their first house in Durham, and he was finally able to put up lights in their yard on Daffodil Lane.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At first, the lights were static. Also, the Mangums were at the end of a dead end street. No one was making an excursion to see their lights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2006 everything changed. With a device called the <\/span>Light-O-Rama<\/span><\/a>, they could synchronize the lights and music. They\u00a0<\/span>started with six songs on a constant repeat. Terry explains, \u201cYou just pick a song and then with that program, you sit there and tell the computer when you want the light or when you want it off.\u201d It also added to their preparation time. \u201cIt’s a long tedious process,\u201d Terry says, \u201cAt the time it was taking, probably anywhere from eight to twelve hours per minute of song to get everything synchronized.\u201d They add on a few songs each year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When word traveled of the light show on Daffodil Lane, cars lined the entire street, taking turns three at a time parking in front of the Mangum house to get a peek.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 2013, they moved to Guess Road. There, people could pull off to the side of the road and spend time listening to the music and watching the lights for as long as they wished. The Mangums were also free to expand their show. They didn\u2019t have neighbors close by to worry about on their 25 acres of land.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n They now have a tree that they refe<\/span>r to as a \u201cpeacock tail.\u201d It has 16 different strings of lights that can link to music. In the song \u201cDisco Santa,\u201d a tune that replaces Y-M-C-A with N-O-E-L, the tree acts out scenes of reindeer and children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is an immense amount of work for just the two of them. \u201cWe’re not as quick as we used to be,\u201d Terry says, \u201cAnd we always try to have it ready the Sunday before Thanksgiving. And we were able to do that this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To the Mangu<\/span>m family, it is proper to play Christmas music even before Thanksgiving. <\/span>The light show begins at 5:30 p.m. each evening and ends at 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and \u00a0 Friday and Saturday at 11:00 p.m..\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n From inside the house you can hear the faint singing. Mary Jane says, <\/span>\u201cI end up humming every song.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Christmas cheer doesn\u2019t stop inside the house. As the Mangums explained their \u201caffliction,\u201d they showed off their seven different trees. There is a <\/span>tree that snows<\/span><\/a> and a tree dedicated to the Beatles. There is a table dedicated to the 1983 film \u201cA Christmas Story.\u201d A sign says, \u201cI have O.C.D. Obsessive Christmas Disorder.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When asked about why they put so much work into this tradition, Terry responds, \u201cWell, you know, remembering the reason for the season and the tradition that families share with us.\u201d Families come by each year in their pajamas, cradling mugs of hot chocolate. Each night there are cars lined up watching in awe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n