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UPPER FREEHOLD: 15K lights, 125-plus trees equal holiday magic

Family’s Christmas open house to gather Sandy relief donations

By Rachel Lavery, Special Writer
   UPPER FREEHOLD — If the Grinch tried to steal Christmas from the McCormick family, he would need a much bigger sled.
   Every year, Mike and Debbi McCormick, along with their children, Christopher and Matthew, decorate their home for Christmas inside and out with at least 100 Christmas trees, over 15,000 lights, and other festive decorations.
   This year, in addition to the Christmas gathering they’ll host for their family and friends, the McCormicks have decided to invite the community to enjoy their display at an open house fundraiser to benefit Hurricane Sandy victims.
   The Christmas Open House takes place from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday, (Dec. 9) at 153 Route 526. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for the governor’s Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund and Operation Jersey Shore Santa.
   The McCormicks have been putting on a festive holiday display for friends and family since they built their home in 2004. They begin assembling in September and by Thanksgiving everything is ready to be put out.
   ”We can’t get the car in the garage for about a month,” Mr. McCormick says.
   Once the family celebrates Thanksgiving, which they host the Sunday before to give themselves a little more setup time, they begin putting up all the decorations. The project requires organization and effort on the part of every family member.
   The holiday display includes live and artificial trees ranging from 2 feet to 25 feet tall, a large outdoor manger and various Christmas characters. There are at least four trees in every room of the house, and many more outside, including 15 fully lit Colorado blue spruces planted in the front yard.
   For tree-tallying purposes, there are even “house rules” as to what constitutes a Christmas tree.
   ”It must be decorated and must get put away after the Christmas season” in order to be included in the final tree count, Mrs. McCormick says. The couple is keeping the 2012 official McCormick Christmas tree count close to the vest because part of the open house fun is guessing how many trees there are.
   ”Traditionally, an official number is announced at the open house, after all of the guests who wish to participate have had an opportunity to count and submit their numbers,” Mr. McCormick said. When pressed for a hint, he will say there are “definitely more than 125,” which any Christmas tree trivia buff can tell you is more than double the number inside the White House, where 54 trees are on display.
   Aside from organization and physical labor, there are other logistical matters involved in running what friends call “the home for wayward Christmas trees.”
   Mrs. McCormick notes that plugging in thousands of twinkling lights requires careful coordination to avoid overloading circuits. At Christmastime, the coffeepot must go in a specific outlet in the kitchen because a different location blows a fuse.
   Before his Christmas gatherings, Mr. McCormick runs a test of the lights to ensure no fuses will be blown by the enormous display. Two years ago, the setup process ran behind schedule and the testing wasn’t as thorough. When the first guest arrived, the ringing of the doorbell blew a fuse and plunged the front hall into darkness until Mr. McCormick could rush to the fuse box and fix the problem.
   In the past, the McCormicks have asked friends and family who come to enjoy their festive holiday decorations, to bring food for the Allentown Food Pantry in lieu of gifts. Each year they have collected more than 350 pounds of food.
   This year, the McCormicks have chosen to share their family tradition with the entire community in order to gather donations to help ease the hardship that New Jersey shore families are experiencing this holiday season.
   Operation Jersey Shore Santa, a program working to bring Christmas to families trying to rebuild and recover from the hurricane, has a list of needed gift items on its website www.operationjerseyshoresanta.org.
   Visitors to the McCormicks’ open house on Sunday are asked to bring either a gift for Operation Jersey Shore Santa, or a monetary donation for the nonprofit Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund. For more information about the relief fund, which is chaired by First Lady Mary Pat Christie, go www.sandynjrelieffund.org.
The McCormicks’ home is located at 153 Route 526, Allentown, NJ 08501, about two miles east of Exit 8 of Interstate 195. Take Exit 8 toward Allentown; make the first left on the Route 526 bypass and then another left on Route 526 East. For more information, call 609-208-9991.