By Amy Batista, Special Writer
CRANBURY — Now in its ninth year, the annual Christmas Light Spectacular on Main Street keeps adding new custom decorations each year.
Cranbury Christmas Lights is located at 128 North Main Street. The lights this year will dance to the music of 19 songs totaling 70 minutes.
Resident Keith Shaw conducts the annual light shows from his front lawn beginning the end of November through December to raise money for the He Cares We Care food bank at Princeton Alliance Church in Plainsboro, where 100 percent of the donations and food items are delivered.
“New Jersey and New York’s largest Christmas Tree would like you to visit,” said Mr. Shaw. “With more than 47,000 lights – more than the Rockefeller Center Tree – you will be amazed at the beauty of so many lights.”
He said it is one of the “top Christmas displays in the USA.”
“It has been featured in virtually every news organization in New Jersey and even nationally on NBC Nightly News on Christmas Night 2014,” he said.
He said that the display this year is like a Broadway show with more than 122,000 lights dancing to the music being controlled by 4,160 channels and 25,000 feet of extension cords.
“Every year we add four brand new songs,” he said. “For every song every 1/10 of a second, I tell 704 sets of lights and 3,456 channels on the pixel wall what to do – turn on, off, fade up or down, twinkle, etc. It takes me more than 30 days to program one song,” he said.
The shows play 20 nights starting Nov. 28 and goes through Dec. 31,” he said. The schedule can be found at www.cranburychristmaslights.com
Mr. Shaw said that it is a yearlong event but the actual lawn setup started Oct. 27 and was completed Nov. 15.
Somewhat surprisingly, Mr. Shaw said his electric bill goes up very little with estimates this year around $160.
“We are a 99 percent green Christmas display,” he said, adding nearly all of the lights are LED.
It is important to check the website for parking information and schedules, which vary from night to night, he added.
“Every other night we will feature a different show made up of 18 songs, ranging from the traditional to the whimsical Christmas songs for the kids,” he said.
Mr. Shaw said that each year he adds a new feature.
“For 2015, it is a 1,200 light pixel wall that will absolutely amaze the audience,” he said. “This display is truly unique, with our own designs including a 10,000 Shooting Fountain of Light, a 20-foot-by-20-foot wall of snowflakes with 6,400 lights and the lawn has more than 25,000 lights on it.”
The shows and parking are free. VIP tours and parking are available and information on this can be found on the website as well.
“It is important to read the parking section on the website,” he said. “For those able to participate in the VIP tour, it is a memorable experience. Everyone who does the VIP tour is amazed and walks away so thankful they did it and we are grateful for the donation and how many people it will help.”
Mr. Shaw said Saturday nights are the busiest, followed by Sundays and Fridays. Cash donations and nonperishable foods are being accepted and 100 percent of donations go to local food charities. It is a New Jersey non-profit to benefit the local food banks and charities.
“I selected a local food bank that targets middle class families where one or both of the parents have lost their jobs or are in temporary housing,” he said. “A good majority of the food this organization collects goes to kids.”
The organization is called “He Cares We Care,” he said.
“Cranbury Christmas Lights is all about brining joy to those who visit and for those who are able to help, they do accept cash donations which will help to make a difference by giving back to the community in need,” he said.
In 2014, the group collected more than $14,000 for the local food banks, he said.
“A large portion of the food this pantry distributes goes to children,” he said. “Within five miles of Cranbury Christmas Lights, there are hundreds of children that go everyday without eating a meal and those that are fortunate only eat what they get in school. It deeply saddens my heart with just the thought of my own kids having to endure this. That is why I am so grateful to all the people who make it possible for us to do what we do,” he said.
Mr. Shaw is asking for those who for those who are able “please give generously. For those who can’t, we hope you come out for a joyful night and this Christmas Display lights up your Christmas season.”
All of the displays use a system called Light-O-Rama, which makes the lights dance to the music, he said.
“I had been in the wine business for 20 years at the time and did not know a thing about programming lights and music. I certainly did not know how to use this system. But I committed myself to learning, ordered the equipment and did a lot of reading over the next 30 days,” he said.
He said in early November, he received the equipment and the program to make it all work.
“The next 30 days was a huge learning curve, a lot of trial and error but by Dece. 6, I had the first song up and running,” he said. “In the next 10 days, I had another five songs done.”
That first year Mr. Shaw only had 15,000 light and 32 channels controlling them to the music.
“It was a huge success, we had thousands of people who came to see our display,” he said, adding that he decided to make it bigger the next year and each year since he has added onto the display.
Now into its ninth year, friends and neighbors help with the display, along with Mr. Shaw’s two sons, Alexander,10, and Kristopher, 8.
“They both also love helping me plug in the lights to the 704 power supplies and making sure they are the correct colors,” he said.
For him, the highlight of doing the display is what he “actually will never see.”
“Knowing that the donations that are given are feeding so many people who are in need,” he said. “I also enjoy seeing kids dancing around to the music and lights. Oh yes, and seeing the adults doing the same.”
He said there are no ordinances in place. However they do have an agreement with the Cranbury Zoning Officer in place each year, which allows them to continue to do the display.
