A heavy-duty light display

Photo by Michael Johnson

GENESEO, NY — Joanne and Dennis Small received an anonymous thank-you card last week.

They bring the North Pole to life during the holiday season with elaborate lights and decorations at their home on Lima Road. It is a labor of love that has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

Some students from SUNY Geneseo left a card praising the home’s festive get-up. They thanked the Smalls “for bringing a bit of home into our lives.”

This meant a lot to them, says Joanne, since it is the joy brought to other people — especially their grandchildren — that makes the effort and the cost of their extravagant decorations all worth it.

Their front porch is complete with two lit artificial trees, a 6-foot Santa Claus and homemade sleigh, light-up gifts, and a light-up mailbox for letters to Santa.

Since Dennis retired from coaching at Geneseo Central School, his extra time can be spent planning, installing and expanding their annual display.

“We add a little more each year,” he explains.

The Smalls built this home about five years ago. They change up the display each year, and try to include every area of the exterior, even the wooden boat-shaped play set in the back yard.

One year they attached their light-up deer to the play set by a string of lights for the illusion of a reindeer-pulled “sleigh”.

Each night at dusk, Dennis has 21 cords to plug in to light up the display. He adds that he is not as technologically advanced as some who use automatic timers. They have incorporated some of the newer, energy-saving LED lights into their collection, but won’t be making a switchover all at once.

As you can imagine, the inside of the home is bedecked with holiday novelties and sentiments as well.

Joanne even says that their holiday décor was a factor when they worked with builders and electricians constructing their home. She made sure the electrician installed outlets at each window for plugging in holiday lights.

The display takes more planning than testing lights and outlets.

Joanne and Dennis created a three-dimensional tree on the end of the house this year, which involves several strands of lights but only requires one plug to be plugged in. They admit the crept around outside on an October day testing their plan.

Despite the extensive planning and cost, the Smalls plan to continue decking the halls on Lima Road and it just keeps getting bigger and better.