Winter wanderland

For some it's setting up a traditional tree a couple of weeks before Dec. 25, for others it's decking the halls with a few strings of lights before the first snowfall hits, but for Murray resident Marty Slack, holiday decorating is 12 months of planning, designing and building lighted treasures for his annual exhibit.

"I'm already working on some ideas for next year," he said early in December.

This year Slack used more than 100,000 lights for his Murray masterpiece at 5631 S. Whispering Pines Circle (820 East). But not all of the lights can be turned on at the same time because the breakers would blow. So Slack uses a computer program to coordinate the lights and synchronize them with Christmas tunes that he plays with his FM transmitter on FM 99.9.

"It all goes over the radio so people can sit in their cars," Slack said.

On any given night, Slack's cul-de-sac transforms into a sea of automobiles as local residents swarm to see the lights.

"Some nights it looks like a drive-in theater," he said.

Each year the display is different. Slack spends the entire year, and $3,000 to $4,000, designing and building his new Christmas creation. He starts placing the designs in his yard at the end of September and turns them on the day after Thanksgiving.

The Christmas collection also includes special performances by Slack, who plays the French horn or sings on a stage in his garage.

"That's not every night, it's just kind of when I'm in the mood," Slack said.

He also has two groups that he plays with that perform in his garage.

Slack turns on his bundle of lights each night at about 5:15 p.m. and on weekdays they turn off at 10 p.m., on weekends it's 11 p.m. The holiday celebration will continue until the first week in January.

"There are so many people now that look forward to it every year. I don't even know who they are," Slack said. "I do it as kind of a Christmas present to everyone," he said.

Murray resident Ned Searle has also been brightening up the holidays for local residents.

Using more than 16,000 lights that he stores in 15 five-gallon buckets, Searle transforms his home, at 785 W. Chesapeake Circle, into a gingerbread house each year.

"I put colored lights on the roof, and then on the walls it's clear, and the eaves are outlined in red," Searle said.