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MONROE: Lighting contest winners went above and beyond

David Kilby, Managing Editor
   MONROE — The Monroe Board of Recreation gave out its awards for its Holiday House Decorating Contest at its meeting Tuesday, and the two most recognized winners, if combined, had a total of 115,000 lights, most of which were synchronized to music, as well as cut out displays, train sets, and an opportunity to donate to local charities.
   First place was given to Dan and Brenda Ancona’s house. Located at 16 Patricia Place in Monroe, the display had approximately 30,000 lights which were both static and synchronized to music.
   ”We have a number of handmade and painted cut outs, most of which have been motorized to provide movement to the display,” Mr. Ancona said.
   These cut outs included dancing deer, a snowman juggling snowballs, a dancing Santa, a train and a toy shop which had two elves depicted making toys as the packages ran down a conveyor into a sack ready for the UPS truck to pick up.
   The display also had lights that are sequenced to music and run via a computer and controllers. Most of the controllers were also built from kits on site.
   They also have a fan page on Facebook: Dano’s Lights.
   ”We have had a display for a number of years now, really taking off in size over the past few years,” Mr. Ancona said. “Christmas lights and displays have always interested me since I was a child. My parents would take the family around town to see all the houses decorated. The display takes about five weeks to set up and 12 months to plan. The 2012 display plans have already begun!”
   A special award was given to the house of Kay and Campbell Brown at 316 Dey Grove Road, which had 85,000 lights synchronized to Christmas music. This is the fifth year the Browns have done this display, but they add more lights and decorations each year. By tuning into 95.3 FM visitors had the chance to listen to the music synchronized to lights in the warmth of their car.
   ”Everyone has that house growing up,” Mr. Brown said. “You visit Christmas displays and say ‘Let’s go to that house.’ I wanted to be that house, and have families come back every year.”
   The Browns ran their light show until Jan. 10. The show raised $7,587.51 through donations for local charities.
   Ms. Brown said that the house attracted so many people that toward the end of the Christmas season they were trying to cut down on publicity.
   For more information on the Brown’s house, visit brownfamilylights.com.
   ”This is truly a quality of life event,” said Jay Brown, coordinator of the contest, who said he had no relation to Campbell and Kay Brown. “It just makes you feel better living in the community. We went all around the community and there are many greatly decorated houses not mentioned.”