By VASHTI HARRIS
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — Go big or go home was the game plan for Bill and Ryan Kloos this holiday season when it came to decorating their house.
Known locally for their annual yuletide light show, this year the Kloos’ house at 13 Sterling Court in East Brunswick took on a national platform when it was selected to participate in a nationally televised Christmas lights competition show, which aired on Dec. 5.
Given a 30-day deadline, Bill Kloos, 22, took time off from running his local landscaping business, Landscape Craftsmen, while Ryan Kloos, 20, took off from college to build their Christmas display and film for the show.
“Because we were on [a televised competition] this year, they told us officially on Sept. 1 that we would be on the show so we had from Sept. 1 to Oct. 2, which was our film date, so we had to get everything done by our film date. So, we had 31 days this year to prepare, so our whole family, my brother, myself, and a lot of family and friends all helped out,” Bill Kloos said.
“I took off from work, my brother took off from college the whole month [of September] and for all 30 days we worked 12-14 hours a day outside, then we went inside and started working on programming, so we were working probably 16 hours a day, seven days a week to get it all done in time,” Bill Kloos said.
After the show officially aired on Dec. 5, Bill and Ryan Kloos learned that their house did not win the competition. However, they expressed that they had no regrets since overall they were hoping to gain more exposure to raise money for 2-year-old Trent Powers, who was born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a rare and incurable disease that affects one in every 3,500 boys born each year. Each year the Kloos family uses their light show to not only bring in crowds, but to raise money for a local charity.
According to a sign on the Kloos’ front lawn, “This 100 percent fatal disease causes progressive muscle weakness that ultimately leads to life threatening heart and lung complications. We ask that all visitors contribute towards Trent’s staggering costs for care and help to raise awareness of DMD.”
“We said from the start that it was really cool to be on the show and it was a lot of fun to film, and we were happy that we were on it, regardless if we win or lose. Our goal is to raise $15,000 (for Trent). We hope to meet and possibly exceed this goal. We were hoping that with this extra exposure we can raise the money for Trent,” Bill Kloos said.
After starting his own landscaping business when he was just a teenager, Bill Kloos went to Delaware Valley University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. Kloos was also responsible for the design of the entire Christmas display which can now be seen by all those who visit.
“So, I designed it all and basically we have the center mega tree in front of the house, which has been a staple in our display for seven or eight years now. This year we added two mega trees in the backyard, each of those is 55 feet and one you can walk into,” he said.
Kloos went on to explain that they wanted to make the display more interactive due to the fact that they were going to be on TV.
The township actually closed the road leading to their house to make it safer for the visitors. In the past, visitors would view the Kloos family’s Christmas light show from their car due to the fact the family’s house is located in a cul-de-sac. Due to appearing on the show and the road being closed to the public, the Klooses added a driveway attraction to their display.
“We wanted to make it more interactive because now they have to walk up the street so this whole driveway thing is new this year. We never let people on the driveway before, but now we invite them to come up the driveway, where they can go through the mega tree and walk around. I call it a castle entrance,” Bill Kloos said.
“A staple in our display is called the canopy of lights, which is all like a circus tent. It covers the whole yard, and we are the only family in the country that has something like this and that is what actually caught the scout’s eye for the [show], which ultimately got us on the show.”
The display is also decorated entirely with varied large Christmas decorations that include Santas, Christmas nutcracker soldiers, reindeer and more.
Furthermore, all the lights dance and change colors in coordination with a radio that plays Christmas songs.
The Christmas Light Show will be on display every night from 7-10 p.m. through Jan. 1. Visitors are welcome to take pictures and give contributions for Trent Powers by dropping their donation in the donation box, located on the left side of the house.
To donate to Trent’s family, visit www.gofundme.com/trentpowers.
To learn more about DMD, visit www.mda.org/disease/dunchenne-muscular-dystropy.
For more information on the Kloos’ light display, visit www.facebook.com/kloosfamilylights/.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].