Company makes holiday lights easy for variety of customers

Ah, the beauty of the seasons festive twinkling lights. Or, the dread of a possible emergency room visit, depending on your point of view.

You want a Clark Griswold-worthy extravaganza, but are worry about taking a fall? Your answer may be to hire out the job. Several local companies specialize in exterior holiday lighting and will design, install, and come January, dismantle your holiday display.

Many landscapers, window cleaners and swimming pool contractors take advantage of their slower season by branching into holiday lights installation. Eric Stolz of Gold Star Services is one such provider. When not running a pest control business, he moonlights as an exterior lighting specialist.

Deloris Sawyer hired Gold Star Services to design and install a display for her Sunrise Mountain home.

It was the family’s first time doing so, she said, because physical problems are preventing her husband, who usually does the job, from doing it this year.

“He’s a disabled vet, and I wanted to do something to lift his spirits, after all he’s done for his country,” she said. “Plus we’re hosting a holiday dinner.”

She’s pleased with the result, she said.

“They were done on time, and it was a great value.”

The company created two display areas in the front of the house. One features a lighted way leading up to Santa holding a baby; the other is a manger with angels and harps.

Gold Star set up the display visible from the street. Then Sawyer invited friends and family to see who could add the most creative enhancement to the professional job. The winner was a friend who designed a more “adult themed” red lights display around the hot tub. She said she wanted to provide spaces for both kids and adults who will attend her gathering.

Prices for these services are usually based on the ground covered and length of lighting installed. Gabor Viczko, who manages Holiday Illumination, says the 16-year-old company’s prices start at $750 and have gone as high as $8,000.

The company charges by the number of boxes of lights used. For The District at Green Valley Ranch, they set up a 60-foot Christmas tree, and also decorated Turnberry Towers. For residences, many of his customers request snow men, polar bears, reindeer, “and lots of Santa Claus’” he said.

Viczko wouldn’t name clients, but describes many of them as “middle class, to the top 1 percent.” He said business is growing steadily every year, with a client base of about 70 percent that uses the company’s service every year.

One of if not the oldest business in Las Vegas that specializes in festive designing is Ralph Jones Display, on East Charleston Boulevard.

It focuses on commercial jobs like the holiday wreaths seen on many homeowners association gates, and displays in hotels and malls. But the company also maintains a showroom full of Christmas retail products and has designers to plan and coordinate layouts.

“We’re seeing a lot of repeat family business every year,” Creative Director Kate Jones said. “It’s a real tradition, with the kids and grandkids of the same customers coming in.”

The best part of the arrangement may be when in January they come back to remove and pack up the decorations, so you can stay safely indoors watching football and preparing for your next holiday.