All aglow: Light displays spark holiday spirit in Summerlin-area neighborhoods

When it comes to holiday lights, some homeowners go all out, ensuring that their yard has every inch covered to celebrate Christmas.

Gabor Viczko, owner of Holiday Illumination, said he starts putting up holiday lights for customers Nov. 1 and goes nonstop from there.

“There’s no sleep,” he said.

His household accounts for Christmas lights can run from a low of $550 to $20,000. The latter required a 13-hour marathon session to hit all the varied roof lines and spiral lights around tree trunks and branches. The average household account is $2,000 and uses thousands of leased lights. His 16-man team normally uses ladders to trim roof lines, but sometimes it requires a lift that can take his men up 76 feet.

“My oddest request? Putting up a flying Santa and six reindeer,” he said. “We rigged it over the driveway. … Nothing is out of our league. People think, ‘It’s just Christmas lights, you just throw them up there.’ Yeah, right. It’s a lot more involved than that.”

DREAM TO BE LIKE MRS. CLAUS COMES TRUE

To say that Tommy and Rosette DeGennaro love Christmas is an understatement.

“I always wanted to be Mrs. Claus when I grew up,” Rosette said.

She said her husband realized how Christmas crazy she was when, for their first Christmas together, she told him that he had to sit on Santa’s lap for a picture. Now, 25 years later, it’s their tradition.

“Tommy’s love of Christmas came from a very meager childhood,” Rosette said. “His parents would drive around to show him the lights displays at other houses. We vowed to one day have a house that everyone would want to drive by to see.”

So, the couple decorate their house at 8814 Mia Moore Ave. to the hilt. The couple estimated that they install approximately 30,000 lights. The indoors is decorated just as much.

Last year, the lights did not go up, as Tommy had lost his job and had to find work out of state. Rosette had health issues and underwent two surgeries.

They got letters and knocks on the door from people asking if they were all right and saying how they missed the lights. This year, the lights are back up.

CELEBRITY COUPLE CELEBRATE SEASON

Many homeowners take pride in decorating their own homes.

Now that they’re based in Las Vegas and not traveling the world, Chloe Crawford, a performer in “Fantasy” at the Luxor, and her husband, Murray Sawchuck, who has his own magic show at Planet Hollywood, go all out at their home, 8508 Montago Valley Ave.

She hails from England, and he is from Canada, and they have a tradition where their families fly into Las Vegas for the holiday.

“I knew he went all out for Christmas,” said Crawford, “but I didn’t realize how ‘all out’ he meant.”

The inside of the two-story home gets a Christmas village. The outside gets a 10-foot-tall Santa on the roof, 10,000 lights, a snowman, a talking Santa and wooden reindeer.

“One of my favorite things is, growing up in England, we had an artificial tree … now, we pick out a huge, real tree,” Crawford said. “I love the smell of it.”

THE NEIGHBORHOOD ‘GRISWOLDS’

Nicholas and Brooke Neubauer live near Anasazi Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard. When it comes to their holiday decorations, they said their neighbors call them the Griswolds after the famous family from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” They go all out with lights and features and have as many as 20 inflatables, some of them on the rooftop.

“We have three kids. That’s part of the reason why my husband goes overboard with the decorations,” said Brooke, whose children are Jackson, 11, Ava, 4, and Nevada, almost 2. “His mother, it was always her favorite holiday. She would decorate the house the month before, and he remembers how Christmas was that amazing, special time of year. … The minute Halloween weekend is over, he starts decorating for Christmas.”

The house is not just lit up with strands of lights, there are also Santa and Mrs. Claus, a candy cane lane walkway leading to the front door, North Pole signs, artificial snow covering the yard, Christmas angels and a family of ducks dressed up as elves. The family also has Christmas trees decorated and lit up in the yard.

One of their more notable inflatables is called Santa’s RV. It’s about 7 feet long and 4 feet tall. The coolest aspect? Santa pops his head out every so often, prompting cars to park outside while the occupants wait for him to appear. There is also a 4-foot-tall snow globe that makes it seem as though the weather has turned.

“People send us cards of them and their children posing (in front of the house), thanking us for decorating,” Brooke said. “ ‘Thank you for everything you do,’ they write.”

Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.