Wizlights

11/29/2025

I have been preparing for this year's show since the start of August. All year, really. My 'staging area' in the back yard is full of stuff ready to be moved out front and plugged in.
Alas, I am sorry to announce that won't be happening. There will be a very minimal show this year.
I have injured my hip and cannot walk. Much less set up hundreds of items and run 2 miles of wire.

10/29/2025

I made him promise not to do this at Wizlights.

03/24/2025

I'm off to the Florida Mega-Mini lighting convention this weekend. I'll be picking up a bunch of new things for this year's show.
I was thinking of taking this year off, but it turns out I had 2, not 1, grinchy neighbors last year, and I'll be danged if I'm gonna let them win. And there was at least a dozen neighbors that told me how much they love the display and look forward to it every year. Plus, as I mentioned, I was gifted (Thanks Jan!) with a ton of commercial LED strings. Still trying to figure out where the heck I'm gonna put them all!
The show will start on Monday, December 1st, at 6:00 PM!

01/10/2025

2024 Post-Mortem:
I don't do this just for, or even primarily for the SAFE Animal Shelter. I do it because so many people enjoy it and it puts smiles on so many faces. The donations to the animal shelter are just the icing on the cake. And I enjoy the engineering challenges.
The icing keeps getting thinner and thinner. Total donations this year came in at a measly $98. That's especially sad since 4 people put in $20 each and 2 people put in $5 each, meaning the hundreds (thousand?) other cars put in, collectively, just $8. A huge THANK YOU! to everyone who donated.
While this year was not my best, it was much better than the technical disaster of last year when I still managed to collect $168. And there were more cars this year than last.
I may take next year off...

12/20/2024

Of course there has to be one Grinch in every neighborhood. ☹️
Every year I send out a friendly letter in November to every house 8 houses up and down the street on both sides. I explain everything going on with the show, and tell them to call me immediately if they have any questions or concerns or if any visitors leave trash, make noise, or any other problem. Has my cell #, my sister's #, email address, page, etc. I can't count how many times neighbors have told me how much they love the display!
But last night our Grinch, rather that saying anything to me or my family, called the police.
So please avoid parking in front of Mt. Crumpit next door at #1256.

12/20/2024

Reminder: I have a list of some of the best other displays in the Duval, St. Johns, Clay county area on my web site at https://wizlights.com/localshows/
If you know of one I should add the the list, let me know. And I haven't added to that list yet, but one of the best in the area (in my opinion) is 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐢𝐞 https://www.facebook.com/groups/648202617035880 at 917 Delcie Drive, Saint Augustine, FL 32086
Another great one is Christmas on Crystal Springs https://www.facebook.com/ChristmasOnCrystalSprings/ at 10580 Crystal Springs Road, Jacksonville

An annual Christmas light display during the holidays at a private residence celebrating Christmas.

12/13/2024

I'm using GiveButter for online and phone donations this year. If you can't make it by but would like to support SAFE Animal Shelter you can go to https://givebutter.com/wizlights and make a donation.
You can also donate to them directly at https://safeanimalshelter.com and save the fees. If you do, please mention Wizlights in the comments so we can get some good Karma.
THANK YOU!!!!

By SAFE ANIMAL SHELTER OF ORANGE PARK INC

12/08/2024

Here's the map again.
If you are familiar with the area, I think Wizlights looks a little better if you approach it from the south, from Old Jennings Rd. But if not, take Blanding Blvd. to Tanglewood Blvd. and then turn right on Tumbleweed Dr. (Only reason I suggest from the south is cuz the neighbor has a huuuge tree that prevents you from seeing the display from the north until you are almost there.)

12/08/2024

Tom BetGeorge has posted video for his 2024 Christmas display.
This guy is the absolute undisputed master of Christmas light shows. Fireworks! Lasers! Drones! Flame-Throwers! And everything is perfectly sync'ed to the music! 😲🙀🤯

12/08/2024

Huge shout out to my friend Jan who donated almost 200 lbs of broken commercial LED strings! 3 huge garbage bags full. So, they're broken and don't work-- but I have a pretty good track record at repairing them, better than 75% success rate. I am the Wizard after all! And an ELF (Extreme Lighting Fanatic) to boot! So I'll have a bunch more high-grade commercial light strings to add to the display next year!
BTW: Much of the stuff in my display is D.I.Y. And a bunch more of it is upcycled. I take old broken decorations, clean and refurbish them, repair the lights or add new ones, and put them in the display! That's how I've accumulated 50 Christmas trees!

12/08/2024

Status: The show is up and running! I've had quite a few visitors already!
I'm behind schedule as usual, but less so than the last couple years, especially last year which went really badly.
And there's been some technical glitches, but relatively few and easily fixed. Unlike last year which went really badly...
Most of the biggest, best, brightest stuff is in place, connected, and sequenced. I still have a whole lot of minor stuff and I will continue to add small things and tweak the sequences all the way until I take the display down on Jan 7th. And then I start on the 2025 show!
I haven't got the transmitter working correctly yet, but the speakers are working and sound better than ever thanks to some upgrades!
Haven't put up the donation box yet, but the donation web site is set up at https://givebutter.com/wizlights so if you like the show (or even if you don't) please consider making a donation to SAFE Animal Shelter in Middleburg.