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History Page
As a boy I always loved to look at
Christmas light displays.
I always thought as I got older I would decorate my house
with lights. Well, here is the history of the:
Obermiller Family House of Lights
Christmas Display!
After I married my wife Donna we
bought our first house in 1985. The house was located at 215 Bottorff Drive in Sellersburg, Indiana.
As the first Christmas came, we decided to decorate the house
with miniature Christmas lights. We purchased around 3,000
lights that first year. I completely outlined the house with white
lights. For the first year I thought that the house looked pretty good. As I looked at the house that first year I knew I needed to add
more lights. I went driving around the neighborhood looking at other peoples houses to get idea's to better our own display.
For the next 10 years our display grew to 13,000
lights. We
had people from all over town telling us how they enjoyed looking at our lights. We lived in a neighborhood that was away from a major
street so not many people would come down our street except at Christmas time.
Christmas 1991, about 5,000 lights.
Christmas 1993, over 8,000 lights.
Christmas 1995, over 13,000 lights.
In 1996 we moved to our present house located in
Scottsburg, Indiana.
We now have 2 acres to decorate and when I put up our 13,000 lights I was shocked at how empty the yard looked. So we went and
purchased an additional 2,000 lights to bring our 1996 total to over 15,000 lights.
For 1997 we added about 5,000 more lights. I just was not happy with the quality of the display. We had many people telling us how
beautiful the lights were. Through out the summer of 98 whenever I would tell people were we lived, they would ask, " Do you live near
that house with all the Christmas lights?". I would tell them that it was our house and we were always given
complements.
Christmas 1997, over 20,000 lights.
Here is what happened while the lights were on in 1997. Donna and
I started attending the First Christian Church of Scottsburg the winter of that year. One night during the Christmas season I had the
most life like dream of my life. I dreamt that I was standing in my yard looking at the lights when a voice told me "I want you to use
your Christmas Lights to tell all about Jesus." God had just
spoken to me! I woke up shaking, my heart was pounding wildly, and I could
not go back to sleep for a couple of hours. After that things started to happen. Within the next week my Dad gave me a newspaper
clipping about a huge Christmas light display in Tennessee that had over 100,000 lights. This guy also had a web site,
www.planetchristmas.com
. I checked out his web site and found
that this was the answer to my Christmas display. Computerized Lights! I found out that it was not that difficult to do. What I did
not know was how many hours would be involved setting up such a display. While the 97 display was still up I started planning for
1998. I wanted the 1998 display to be the most unusual Christmas light display ever seen in our area. I wanted people to want to
come and see our lights and to be reminded of Jesus
Christ at Christmas time.
In January I went to see Phil LaMaster the head minister of the
First Christian Church. I wanted to speak to him about my dream. He told me that the Lord speaks to us all in different ways. I could tell
that he was a little skeptical about my intentions, especially using Christmas Lights. However we did pray together and he told to me to
follow my dream. As the months went by I was filled with the joy of Jesus Christ.
I was baptized in August of 1998 and am now a born again believer.
We decided that we needed to fill in the yard with silhouettes to fill in the dark area's of the yard. In May we took a trip to Gatlinburg
Tennessee. While we were there we found a place that sells steel Christmas Silhouettes. We bought several 100 dollars worth of
the steel figures to placed in the yard.
Throughout the summer I constructed the control boxes that would be needed to control the lights. I turned on my first light with the
computer in September. I had all the controls in place and I still did not know how I was going to tell people about Jesus. I decided
to make a sign to put up on the roof. What would it say? I asked God to help me and the words REMEMBER JESUS just came up.
I decided to make the 10 foot high cross and place it on the roof. We added a life sized nativity scene and placed it under the star on the
tower. What else did I need? An angel with wings that would appear to be flapping. So I started to make the angel but I was
stuck. For 3 weeks I did not know how to make an angel. So I got on my knee's and asked God to show me how to make the angel. I
just got up and started to bend the steel. God was within me doing the work! A week later the angel was done.
I wanted to play Christmas music for the people who stopped by but because the yard is so big I would have had to play the music very
loud and I don't think my neighbor across to street would have liked that to well. However, I doubt that he would have complained.
I decided to purchase a FM transmitter to transmit the music to the visitors radio's in there cars. I asked a friend of mine if he would
make me a sign that said "Christmas light information tune radio to 88.7 FM". On the day after
Halloween I started to transmit a promo message advertising the Christmas lights. I had several
people comment about the promo because I did it in a very mysterious tone of voice and music. At the end of the promo it said
"if you think last year's display was a gassssss!! YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN YET!!!!" Then the music faded out and the message
started all over. The boys school teachers had told them that they had
listened to the promo and they asked, "You ain't seen nothin Yet?" The
boys would tell them, "That's right!"
The day after Halloween we started putting up the lights. Everything went as well as expected. I had a few setbacks like high winds
blowing over displays and that sort of thing. On Thanksgiving night I turned on all of the lights for the first time. I didn't know if I
could turn them all on at once. I turned each circuit on separately and went outside to see what it looked like. It was bright and
everything was working just fine. I looked out on the highway and cars had already stopped to take a look at the lights. They had not
even been on for 2 minutes yet! I couldn't believe it.
I turned the lights off and went in and started programming the
light sequence. I finished with the programming and the message for the FM transmitter about 1 hour before the lights were to be
turned on. Donna finished with the last ground display at about the same time. The time was 5:00pm and I was getting nervous.
We had invited the family over for the grand lighting and I was afraid that something would go wrong. I didn't want to eat crow.
At about 5:45pm the perimeter lights came on as they should have. These lights were controlled by a timer, not the computer itself. I
went back outside to do a final check when I looked out on the highway and saw 2 cars parked waiting for the light to turn on. Boy
was I nervous, if I was a smoker, I would smoked about 2 packs of cigarettes by that time. I did a final check on the computer and it
showed all was ready for start up.
At 5:59pm I turned off the promo, started the Christmas music and walked outside to hopefully watch the show. As I walked out, I said
a quick prayer and asked God for his help to assure that the lights did turn on at 6:00pm. I walked out and saw about 20 people waiting
to see the lights. I was shaking. At 6:00 pm my watch beeped and no lights!! I thought, "I know I coordinated my watch with the
clock on the computer!! What is wrong??". At 6:00:15pm the lights
started to come on exactly as programmed. At that time people started to applaud and a tear started coming to my eyes. I felt
like a big rock had just been lifted from my body. I think that this was a message from God telling me that you have done
what I have asked you to do. Relax!
Christmas 1998, 40,498 lights.
For the next several weeks I spoke to many people who stopped
by to see the lights. Most told me that they really appreciated the REMEMBER JESUS sign. I spoke with many Christians
those 5 weeks and I am sure I spoke with many nonbelievers as well. I sure hope that at least 1 nonbeliever's soul was saved because
of my ministry. 1 soul saved would make all of the work and expense well worth it.
August 14, 1999
We are well into the construction process for 1999. We have
been buying lights at yards sales and have already purchased
23 new silhouettes as well as a 6 horse 3D carrousel. In
addition, we have ordered 36,000 more miniature lights.
These lights should arrive around August 18th. This will give us
a total of around 80,000 lights for 1999.
September 29, 1999
The new lights are here. We have a total of 81,444 lights for this
year. We are better than half done taping the lights onto the new silhouettes. I spend every free hour working on the lights and
displays. The drive for the carrousel is done and works fine. 98 percent of the lights have been tested and are ready to be put up.
The audio track is recorded and the programming of the lights has begun. The promo has been recorded.
November 8, 1999
We have put up around 15,000 lights so far. All the lights
are on the house. We tested the chase sequences on the
house last night for the first time and we were amazed at what we saw. Dasher worked perfect! We only have about 70,000 to go.
It is a lot of work but my "Father in
Heaven" and "Jesus Christ"
are WELL worth it.
1999 display
November 27, 1999
The lights are up and on. This year we have put up 81,930
lights, there is 14,340 feet of extension cords running in all
directions in the yard, and we have Rabbits. Rabbits are biting the cords of the lights in two. They must think that it is a blade
of grass. They are cut like someone cut it with a knife. Other than the rabbits, everything is working just fine.
December 12, 1999
The lights are working just fine!
Very little problems. The rabbits seem to be gone. I saw a pile of fur in the yard, I think that an
Owl may have gotten it. I asked God to please remove the Rabbit. Guess what, he did!!
December 27, 1999
We have had a wonderful Christmas season. We are in the last
week of the 1999 display season. This year's display has been
a major success. More than 2,700 people have signed our
guest book. I bet only 25 percent of the visitors have signed the book. Other than the rabbits and a few expected light failures
everything has worked just fine.
Today I pulled a Clark Griswold. I had some lights
out on the roof so I decided to go up and repair them.
Well it snowed on Christmas Eve and we still had Ice
on the roof. So stupid me decided to repair the lights
anyway. On the first try I just got off the ladder and was
about 4 feet up the roof when I started sliding backwards
down the roof. I was able to slide right on to the ladder.
No fall this time. So I saw a better spot to climb up but
I had to put my ladder on top of a big box we store
firewood in. I started to climb the ladder and had my foot on
the roof when the ladder slid off of the box. I slid off
the roof and landed on the box and then bounced
off the box and fell the other 4 feet to the deck. There I laid
in the snow and the first thing I did was to look and see
if anybody was watching. I didn't care if I hurt myself.
My back actually feels better!
The following is a letter we received from a lady named
Rosie. It is a wonderful testament of the Glory of the Lord.
This is a letter from a visitor
who stopped by to see the lights.
Christmas Eve
12/24/99
My name is Rosie. I was
here last night with my daughter
Bobbie. I want to share this with you, for the Lord.
I wanted my sister to see your
display so we came back
tonight to show her. I had no money for presents this year and
your display was my gift to her from the Lord, for without the
Lord showing you that dream, their would have been no display
showing and telling people the real truth about Christmas.
Christmas is not about Santa, it's about the birth of our
savior and our salvation. I awoke this morning, snow
everywhere! I freaked out! We came from Arizona, we can't
drive in snow. Bobbie had to get to work, so here we go,
20 mph down the road. I was praying, Lord help us! my
nerves were going, so I said to Bobbie, "Let's sing". Neither
one of us can sing, but that didn't stop us! All of a sudden this
song pops into my head, "Do You Hear What I Hear?",
that's all I knew. I got back home and all afternoon this
song was in my head. I picked up Bobbie from work and
I said to her, "After you rest I want to take you somewhere
and show you something". Of course she asked me
where and I said, "There's these lights I want to show you
in Henryville". After a while we left. On our way we
turned on the radio and Christmas music was playing.
I said to Bobbie, "I want to hear that song that has
been in my head all day". We finally got to the lights in
Henryville and they were beautiful, but something was
missing. We left and Bobbie said, "What about that place
we saw on TV last week?" I said, "I don't know how
to get there."
We were on our way home so we stopped at
Memphis
for a cup of coffee. While we were there we asked
these two boys if they knew where your lights
were and they knew exactly where. So off we go to
your light display. We got there and I said, "We
have to park." So we got parked and got out of the
car and walked over to the side and saw where people
were signing their names and we read about what
you had posted. About that time Bobbie says to me,
"Mom there's that song you wanted to hear."
I could not believe it!!! We went back to our car
and listened to your whole program. When that song
came back on tears ran down my face. Not only
did I get to hear that song but I got to see the
story
of the song being displayed in a beautiful pattern
of lights!!! The snow made it perfect, can you
believe this?
I was so overwhelmed and moved that I felt the
Lord
so close to me. I thought, "You haven't seen anything
yet. Soon the glory of the Lord will be revealed in all
of his splendor!!!"
I had to write this to you so I could make your day like
you made mine, perfect! This was the best Christmas I
ever had! Thank you so much!
Praise the Lord and Bless his Holy Name!!!
We are going hear and see the
Lord soon!
Rosie
Above is a photo of 1999 Control Central.
Above is a photo of Drew Hickman the father of
the Dasher. Drew is testing for the 1st time Dasher
on a direct control setup. It did power up the
circuits and was a successful test.
Dasher is the software that made
computer controlled Christmas lighting easy.
I was assigned serial number 1 for my copy
of Dasher.
 
This the Dasher Deer and Dasher logo that was
used.
July 29, 2000
Today the revised version of the Computer
Christmas Light web
site was uploaded to its new web server. We now have our own domain
name. computerchristmaslights.com.
November 5, 2000
The lights turn on in just 2 1/2 weeks.
We have all the lights up on the house. We have around 24,000 lights
up at this time. We only have around 85,000 more to go.
2000 display 110,000 lights
The 2000 display went pretty well. We did have very poor
weather. We
had extreme cold and a very
bad wind storm. Several of the displays were
damaged.
February 10, 2001
As you can see that there were no updates
through
out the light display period. The weather turned
extremely cold and keeping the lights working
turned out to be a full time job.
I am now suffering a severe case of Christmas
Light
burnout. My personnel life as turned to shambles.
As of now we will not be having a 2001 display.
I am going to take the year off and enjoy life.
June 15, 2001
I finished putting the Christmas lighting stuff
away.
I just took down the remaining extension cords from
the roof. Finally done with the 2000 display. Now it
is time to enjoy the summer.
October 1, 2001
I have been having Christmas Light dreams.
Several of them.
I have been having visions of what the
display should be about this year. I am not sure
what this means. My dreams have been about a
display of red, white, and blue.
October 15, 2001
I have been trying to find a big US flag.
I have been told that
it would take 20 weeks to get one.
October 16, 2001
I prayed for guidance last night about whether
to do a Christmas Light Display or not. I also prayed that God
would find me a source for a big US flag.
October 17, 2001
I received a e-mail from a company in Oregon
who had a
10 X 15 Foot US flag in stock if I wanted it.
It is amazing how the power of God Works.
I took this as a sign that God wants me to do this
Light show this year.
October 18, 2001
I had another Christmas Light dream last night.
It was a dream that told me to have fun when putting
up the lights. If I got frustrated I was to quit working
on the lights until I was happy again.
October 28, 2001
What weather we have been having.
Temperatures
in the mid 60's to lower 70,s. I am going to do a
light show. I started to put up the first lights
today.
November 15, 2001
Well, Satan has been doing his dirty deeds to
try
and stop this display. My computer has been
crashing and I cannot fix it. I spent the whole day
switching the digital cards and reloading all the
software into another computer. A miracle then
happened. Everything worked the first time on the
new computer. This has never happened before.
I would always have to find several little glitches
would slow me down. I am way behind getting the lights put up.
November 22, 2001
The display is far from being ready. Most
of my ground
display do not work. I am forced to put
some of the displays up with some lights out. The
programming of the light show is far from complete.
HELP!!
November 23, 2001
Today I turn on the lights. The display
is only about 5/8
complete. The programming is almost done.
2001 display summery
The 2001 display was a last minute effort. Up until
a week before Halloween I was not going to do
a display. But because of the attack on
America I decided to do a patriotic display. I had plenty of
RED, White,
and BLUE in the display.
I purchased a 10 X 15 US flag and had it flying on the tower.
In addition I
purchased 2 Stars and Stripes wind banners that
were also flying in the wind.
This year brought warm weather as well as heavy
rain. We had 12 inches of rain in a 2 week period.
This caused the yard to turn into a swamp. People
were getting stuck in the yard. I had 24 tons of
gravel put into the parking area. A large portion
of the gravel sunk into the yard.
2001 Display 71,233 lights
The lights are now down and I am starting on
the
2002 display Here is a posting I put in the
Planet Christmas Chat Room.
Well, I have started on the 2002 display. I am
going to add 104 additional digital circuits. Here is a break down of what I
have already spent.
I have just purchased a 192 channel digital
output card for $299.00. 104 - 5 amp Solid State relays at $3.95 ea. 104 - pilot
lights at $.65 ea.
$299.00 + $410.8 + $67.6 = $777.40. I have
almost blown the whole $1000.00 budget already. I still need to purchase
connectors, 13 enclosures, a 1000 feet of 18 gauge 10 conductor cable. In
addition, I have to purchase steel to build a Ferris Wheel, a stand alone
control to control the light sequences on the Ferris Wheel the gear motor for
the Ferris Wheel, and the steel or material to build 104 mini trees for the
chasing tree sequence. (Thanks Chuck for the idea.) This is just the stuff I can
think of now. I guess my point is how expensive it is to put on a computer
control display.
http://www.computerchristmaslights.com
Well, this is all
I have to add right now. I will try to post
additional posting later.
June 19, 2002
Well, construction
of the 2002 display is progressing
at a slow pace, but things are getting done.
I have started to
build the new control boxes for the new
104 circuits for the chasing Christmas Trees.
I have purchased
the 104 tomato cages that I am going to
use for the mini trees. I have to wrap each tree with
chicken wire to make the tree round when I put on the lights.
Last night I
realized that if I turn on all of the little Christmas
trees at once that I will be puling close to 100 amps of power.
I am going to have to run 4 new electric circuits just to power
these trees.
I am beginning to
wonder if I am going to have time to build
a Ferris Wheel this year. I am running out of time already.
June 24, 2002
Well, I am
progressing slowly on getting the new circuit
boxes wired. The new 104 mini trees are going to have a
total of 31,200 lights. For some reason I did not even think
of the number of light that would be involved with this part
of the display. It is going to take about 100 amps of power
just to power the lights on these mini trees if I turn them all
on at the same time. I am going to have to pull 4 more main
circuits for this part of the display. Oh well!
I am going to be
delayed for a couple of weeks. On
June 25, 2002 I have to go in for surgery. I am having
a double hernia fixed. Oh the delays!
Yesterday I
ordered 6 new Blow Mold figures for the new Back Yard
walkway part of the
display. I am planning on setting up a
display in the back yard that can't be seen from the road. I
hope this gets people out of the cars to walk and look
at the display.
July 6, 2002
I just purchased a new mother
board, processor, and memory
for the Christmas Light Computer.
Read the story on the Control
Central Page.
July 8, 2002
The 3 foot mini
trees are being built. So far 15 out of
104 trees have been built. See how I am
building these trees by visiting our Setting Up
Page.
July 26, 2002
The 104 new
digital circuits are now complete and working
just fine. The new computer is up and running. It really
makes Dasher move. I now have 18 of the mini trees done.
There are only 86 more to go! I have been working on the 2002
sound track. I have to do some editing on the music, but
things are moving along.
September 3,
2002
Construction
continues on! 52 of the 104 mini trees are done.
The 14 new inflatables are here. The sound track is done.
All programming is roughly done. When I start to put up the
lights is when I will do my fine tune programming.
Arrangements have
been made to have a representative
of the Jolly Old Elf to be here on Friday and Saturday
nights. Check back for additional updates.
September 18, 2002
All 104 mini trees
are done! 1 new sign is complete
and the snowball fighting snowmen are under construction.
I am building 24 additional circuits to control the new signs
as well as the snowball fighting snowmen. I have ordered a
bubble machine. It will be used in the new snowman taking a
bath display. When the snowman bathes, bubbles will be
floating from his tub. Only 3 weeks until the first lights are
placed in the yard. Time flies!
We decided to
upgrade our electric capacity and upgraded
our electric service to 400 amps. Yesterday the Electric
company was here burying the new cable. While they were
here they cut in to 4 marked drain tiles and the main
marked drain to my basement. I must defend them though,
we have had drought conditions here and the ground is
hard as concrete. The guys did try their best to miss
these drains. This is only part of the story. The electric
company hit the 6 inch water main along the highway.
The electric company called the water company to come
and fix the leak. The electric co. had to turn off our electricity
so the water company could repair the leak. I was without
both water and electricity. While the water company was
digging the hole to repair the leak they cut my telephone
line in two. So now I am without electricity, water, and
telephone. When the phone guy got here I said
"Hail, Hail the utility guys are all here. It got to be quite
funny after awhile. Everything is now working just fine.
Santa will be here beginning on Saturday November 30,
at 7:00 - 9:00 pm. He will be here each Friday and Saturday
night from 7:00 - 9:00pm through Christmas.
November 17, 2002
Well the lights are going up! Right now we have up
around 75,000 lights. We have found that literally
all of the displays have to have a large amount
maintenance that has to be done to them. The lights
are falling off of them. Most of the lights have become faded
and have to be recolored. This is taking a whole lot of
unplanned time to do. I am staying up pretty late at night
to make these repairs. The lights should still be turned on
as scheduled Thanksgiving night at 6:00pm.
November 21, 2002
Drew Hickman, the
father of Dasher, is going to be here
to see the official lighting of the lights on Thanksgiving
night.
We have been
working many hours to get the display ready.
We are still repairing displays. The helicopter display is a mess.
Half of the 1200 lights are falling off. The tape that we used
is just coming apart. It has been on for 5 years so I guess
I should have looked a little closer. I
have been working until
midnight each night doing repairs. I am using vacation time
right now and I am ready to go back to work to rest. Putting
up Christmas lights is a tough job!
Jeremy has been
working several hours each day. He is as
dedicated to this project as I am. When we are through here
we are headed to his house to light it up. He told me just the
other day that in a couple of years their will be another
computer display in the area. Guess what he is going to
call it,
Computer Christmas
Lights
2!
I thought,
"Oh boy, here we go again!".
December 4, 2002
Dale Moss from the
Louisville, KY Courier Journal
was here today to do an interview. Dale spent about an
hour talking to Jeremy and myself about the display.
December 6, 2002
A photographer
from the Courier Journal was here today
taking photo's of the display. He's quite a grouch. I have never
seen a guy who takes pictures for news papers yelling out loud
when something does not go quite right.
Tonight is the
first night for Santa to be here. The
photographer wanted a shot of Santa putting on his beard
so I was putting it on with Donna standing in the background
holding the wig. The photo of Donna was terrible and they
put it in the paper! Boy was I upset. I don't think it is worth
the time and effort putting up with the media.
Santa was a big
hit tonight, however the crowds were
quite then. It was very cold tonight with 4 inches of
snow on the ground. Don Roth from Kimberlin Creek
Baptist was here tonight directing traffic. He did not have
much traffic to direct. He also got quite cold.
December 7, 2002
We are still
putting up lights. The weather has warmed up
a bit and the snow has pretty much melted. We set up a
fire barrel for the guys directing traffic to keep warm. Boy
did they appreciated it. Tonight the traffic was quite heavy.
The guys directing traffic stayed really busy.
December 14, 2002
Fox 41 was here
today filming for their newscast. The video
man was here for around 2 hours. The news video aired on December 15.
Santa was a very
popular person on this night. We had over
a 100 kids talk to Santa. There were times when the parking area was full
and traffic was
lined up on both sides of the highway.
December 16, 2002
The article that
was published in the Courier Journal
was published over one of the news service wires. I was contacted by
American
Family Radio, a Christian radio network to do an interview. I later checked my e-mail
and received a letter from Tech-TV. They asked if they
could do a live interview on their Screen Savers Show.
They wanted to do the interview on Saturday, but I
decided to decline because I had to play Santa on Saturday.
December 17, 2002
I got home from
work this morning and checked the answering
machine when I noticed several messages on the machine.
These messages were from radio stations from all over the
country. Before I could go to bed I had done 5 interviews
with different morning radio shows. Most of the interviews
were not to bad until the last one when it turned out that
the show was from a rock station and the DJ's were out
to get a laugh. They basically called me a fool. That ended
the interviews. I did not answer the phone for the rest of the
day. I received messages from radio stations located in
Orlando, FL, Detroit, MI, Alaska, and a station in Canada.
A reporter from
the Indianapolis Star called and asked to do an interview for his paper and
United Press International. UPI is doing a story on several light displays located through out
the country.
2002 Display 147,000
lights
January 15, 2003
Donna, my wife, is
acting very strange. She has been mad at
me since October. She would not even go out into the yard
to look at the lights. She has changed and she will not tell
me what is going on. I am guessing that it is the lights.
I am considering not having a light display anymore.
January 30, 2003
It is official, I
have decided to call it quits. I no longer
have family support so the display is for sale.
March 2003
Most of my display
has been sold. It is spread out all over the
United States and Canada. I have a few displays left and in
storage at my fathers house.
May 10, 2003
Mt wife of 22
years has filed for divorce. My life is over
as I know it. The display has been sold and is spread
out all over the country. I can't believe this has happened.
She does not even have the courtesy to tell me why.
July 2003
My life fell to rock bottom in July
of 2003. I had to move from my house and am now living in my
camper. My life had been stolen
from me and I still have not been told why she left me!!!
August 2003
I have found 21 acres of land that I want to be my new beginning.
I have asked my father to purchase this land for me so I can purchase it
from
him in the future. He has agreed to help me out.
September of 2003
I have met a great lady. Her name is Rene'. We have so much in common and she loves
Christmas lights!
October 2003
I have started to
build my barn. I plan on building an apartment
in he barn and then build a house later.
December 2003
No lights this
year. I did buy a tree to keep in the barn. I have
2 walls up on the barn and the rest of it is covered with a tarp.
My attitude is getting much better. I am saddened to not have a
display. However, I did get to go on a trip to Tennessee,
Louisiana, and Texas visiting my fellow lighting friends. I
visited Chuck Smith's display in Franklin, TN. I visited
Bill Millers Display in Mckensie, TN. I then went to Walter and
Jackie Monkhouse's display in Alexandria, LA. I then went to
San Antonio, TX to visit Jeff Womack's display. On the way
home I got to visit Dave and Patty Rose in Dyersburg, TN.
Summer of 2004
Well I now am
officially divorced after a long battle and being taken
to the cleaners, it is done.
Rene' and I have
been dating for almost a year now and we have decided to be married.
We married
on September 4, 2004.
December 2004
We had a very
small display this year. It was nothing compared to past years.
2005
We have been
collecting Christmas displays for 2005. I have
purchased several blowmolds and inflatables. Jeff Womack
gave me several containers of lights and candy canes from the
old display. Steve Singleton returned several items from the old display
as well.
Parts of the old display are coming home.
December 2005
This years display
was a bit larger than last year. I did have some
Computer control this year. I had 1 control box left over so I
hooked it up to the computer and did a simple Dasher program.
I controlled the smoke generator for the snowman campfire
and strobe lights. The display was turned on and off using
X-10 modules. We actually had a few visitors this year. Our
property is located on a dead end road and is not visible from
the main road.
February 18, 2006
I am finally
updating this webpage. It has been a couple of years since the last
update.
I am been
purchasing displays for 2006. I have been looking for after Christmas
bargains. I have 88 curtain strobes, 30 inflatables,
121 blowmolds, Several wireframes, and many many lights.
September 9, 2006
Well, decisions,
decisions. I am still pondering the idea of doing a 2006
lightshow display. The main obstacle I have is I have been rolled to
the afternoon shift at work. I now have around 50 inflatables. They
are
such high maintenance that I cannot expect anyone but me to
keep them going.
I have close to 100 strobe lights, 125 blowmolds,
112 channels of LOR light controls, and many many lights.
I am in dire need of extension cord. Many extension cords!
If it is God's desire to have a display this year, then it will happen!
September 15, 2006
Well God has
made a decision!
There will be a 2006 Computer Controlled Light Show!!!!!
This week I was contacted out of the blue by 2
people who
want to be a part of this light ministry. Jeremy Perry of Blocher,
Indiana and Josh Campbell of Charlestown, Indiana has volunteered
as well. Jeremy helped me in 2002 and without him 2002 would
not have happened. This is Josh's first experience in doing a
large display and is ready to go!
Welcome aboard guys and I Thank You from the
bottom of my heart.
We all met today to start the planning for the display. Today was
a get to know each other day and it seems as if we had known
each other for years. I have a great feeling about this year.
With our diversified talents I feel that 2006 will be a year
to remember!
October 21, 2006
Even though the primary mission
of this display is to remind all
of Jesus Christ, we have made a commitment to We
Care and I am
afraid that we may have let them down. We
Care is a local charity
that collects money for needy children of Scott county,
Indiana.
We are hoping to collect money by charging a voluntary admission fee.
As of now the display may not
happen. We have planned a really
nice display consisting of a very large nativity display, 45 inflatables,
130 plastic lighted yard figures, 110 strobe lights,
a snowball fighting snowman display, the life cycle of a snowman
display, Santa in a helicopter, Santa in sleigh with 9 reindeer
complete with afterburner and smoke, a simulated campfire
complete with smoke, a ski jumping penguin display, and
many other items that are to numerous to list.
The display will also have a
light show were the lights are
coordinated to the music. There will be 10's of thousands of
lights that make different patterns on the ground as well as in
the trees.
This display will be completely
controlled entirely by
computer. As a mater of fact, 2 computers will control the
display, that is if it happens.
As of this time we have spent many many
many
many
dollars rebuilding the display and we have exhausted our budget.
Because of the high cost of copper, extension cords have
become an unexpected extreme expense. I am at a loss
and am wondering what we are going to do. At this time we
do not have enough cords to power the display. A 500 ft. roll
of 14 ga. stranded wire costs over $40.00. Last year the
same roll cost around $10.00.
We are needing power
distribution wire. If I had a spool of
100 amp aluminum wire like the power company uses to go
from the transformer to a house, one problem would be
solved. We then have to get power from the power
distribution panel to the displays. This requires lighter gauged
extension cords. We are trying to decorate around 4 acres. This
requires 1000's of feet of cords.
Another problem we are facing
is we need gravel
for our parking area. This gravel costs around $180.00 per load
Want to help? Want to
help by being a part of a ministry for
Jesus Christ? Want to help the needy children of Scott county?
Contact me at:
mobermiller@computerchrisatmaslights.com
October 28, 2006
Well I am still moving forward
as if we have all of the materials
we need to make this display happen for this year. I will start
putting lights in the yard next week. I will be putting up the display
as if I have all of the wire and cords that I need.
So many things have been
happening that has been slowing
me down. A major family tragedy that occurred this week cost me
3 days. Since we have begun to work on this display, one thing
after another have been happening that costs me time and
money that could have gone towards the display. Not only have
things been happening to me but to everyone who is
associated with this display. I am thinking that a power of
evil is trying his best to stop this ministry from happening.
We will keep moving forward. It is a Spiritual WAR!!!
Josh did get some heavy wire donated that will get power about
150 feet closer to where it needs to be. Every bit does help!
My faith in God is being
tested. I really feel in my heart that
everything we need will be provided to light this display.
November 19, 2006
Things are moving quite
slowly. This is the wettest
fall I can remember. The yard is just plane muddy.
I think we have most of the cords we will need. We now
need gravel for the parking area. This is
a major expense! I need dry weather and someone to
haul the gravel.
Lights on is planned for
December 1st. This is a week later
than planned. It is possible that we will turn on the lights earlier
than that. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Starting all over again has
turned out to be tougher than I imagined.
When I was at the old place, I had plenty of room to work on my
display's. I just have a small indoor area so it's tough! Building
the
controls has taken much more time than I remember. I should
have been working on this last summer.
December 23, 2006
Santa was at the display
tonight. With Santa's
help we collected $237.88 for We Care. This has
been the largest one night collection of this season.
The photo above is a partial view
of the 2006 display.
January 2, 2007
We collected $2025.00 for "We
Care" this year. WOW!!!
We hope to add to this number for 2007!
January 3, 2008
This is a summery for the 2007
display. What a year and I don't mean
this to be thought of as a normal easy year.
This year we added to our controls
and to the number of strobe lights that
we had over 2006. I purchased over 100 channels of LOR from a friend
as well as 60 curtain strobes. I also purchased several new inflatables
that brought our total number to 50. We also purchased several new
blowmolds to add to our
collection. We now have over 125 molds.
This years display covered around
4 acres of display area. We had a long
walkway that took you right along the edge of the ground grids. We also
had
an area that actually took you within the grid to get the full effect of the
light show.
At the end of the walkway, we had a large circular walkway that was surround by
inflatables and blowmolds. Within the circle is where the snowball
fighting snowman display was located.
This display was a great hit!
I really never really completed the display this year. I still had plenty of lights I
could have put up. I just plane ran out of time. I had literally no
help this year.
My son did help me quite a bit, but he was not as enthusiastic as I wanted him to
be.
This display takes 100's of hours to complete. We start in September of
each year and finish
sometime in March.
August 12, 2009
A new beginning for the Computer Christmas
Light Display.
Today I met with the Mayor, Bob Hall and the
Chairman of the beautification
committee Donna Connor of the city of Charlestown, Indiana along with my good
friend Josh Campbell. It was agreed that the Computer Christmas Light
Display
will combine with the city of Charlestown, Indiana Christmas display.
The city is very motivated to creating a
Christmas city during the Christmas
Lighting Season and Computer Christmas Lights is to be a part of it.
It is planned that the computer controlled
segment of the display will have over
150,000 lights with about 450 channels of computer control. This will be
the biggest
I have ever been a part of.
September 16, 2009
We have been working our butts
off for this years display. Many things have been ordered
and have arrived. We have built 11 new controllers and I have repaired all
of my controllers.
Just today I received my boards back from LOR. Now I have to get them
mounted into the
boxes.
We are still waiting on our
local vendors to get their Christmas items on the shelf.
We have to buy 1000's of lights and so far we have not bought light one. I
am already getting
nervous about this years display.
October 24, 2009
Well we have
been working daily on the display and are actually
putting up lights. So far we have 29,100 lights up and have been testing
the
sequences. Most items that were ordered have arrived and are on a list to
be installed.
This year's display is by far the biggest thing I have ever attempted to do.
It is looking like we will have around 180,000 lights with 544 channels of LOR.
Many obstacles
have to be overcome. We will discover a problem and then
have to figure out the solution. One problem was we had to solve a problem
of overloading the LOR boards. We solved the problem by building an
external
Triac board that has 40 amp triacs that are hard wired to an external heatsink to handle
the load. We will drive these triacs with a modified LOR board.
October 30, 2009
Well all goes well at this
point with the installation of the display. I am feeling
that I do not have the stamina that I once had. After spending all day
working
on the display, I find myself absolutely worn out.
As of today our light count is
52,000 lights up. One thing I have noticed is that
we have been forced to an increased light count because of the length of the
light sets.
10 years ago the lights sets had about a five to six inch spacing. Today
the spacing is a
mere three inches. This is why we are having power problems. I
expect our light count
will exceed 200,000 lights!
We discovered another
problem. Our curtain strobes are sending noise into
the communication line on the controllers. Each controller that has
curtain strobes
attached to it is causing the other lights to flash when they are dimming.
This is another
problem to overcome!
Rain, rain go away!!!
This year has been an unusual weather year and the fall is no
exception. The ground is saturated. We do have a well drained
lighting area and rainfall
will not be a major issue during the lighting season as it has been in the past
at my
other places. We are using a 40 foot man lift to install the lights and we
are rutting up
the ground. Much more rain and I am not to sure what the yard will look
like after we
are done.
One thing I have been laughing about is the mayor does not trust me. He is
concerned that
the display will not be Christmas enough. When I came to the city to offer
my display to them
I brought videos from the 2007 display. They loved every part of what I
had done
until I showed them the video of the Insulting snowball fighting snowmen.
When
the video was over, you could hear a pin drop on the carpet!!! Well I new
that they
did not like that display and I told them that the audio track can be redone to
a more
funny and light hearted track. Well, the mayor keeps reminding Josh that
he does not
want any insults with the snowmen. I guess that I just have to prove
myself to them.
November 11,
2009
Today I decided to change my
title page because I can no longer publicly place Jesus as
number one in my display because it has been moved to a public location and my
hands are tied.
I now have to privately dedicate the display
through prayer which I have done.
I have decided to move the
title page here as a part of the history page.
 
Our family is dedicated to reminding all who visit our
display during the Christmas season to NOT forget our
Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Christmas is a celebration of
Jesus Christ's
birthday.
So please do not forget the true meaning of Christmas.
We use our lights to minister to the thousands of people
who visit us during the Christmas season.
We have been very busy building
the display. We have been running the show each night checking
problems and boy have we been finding them. We have had several
controllers loosing their
address. A quick call to Light o Rama and several of the problems
have been solved.
Our control problems have been solved.
Dan Baldwin from LOR sent us a
repeater to put on the network and this seemed to solve all of the control
problems.
Santa and sleigh have been installed and
working. I still need to finish the afterburner, but I
forgot the chase control and smoke generator. I find myself forgetting so
many
things that I need in Charlestown. This is one problem that I have
discovered about doing
a display away from home.
Yesterday we have installed 146,850
lights. Still not a record for me but but less
than a thousand lights to go for a record.
I modified a LOR control so it could control 9
external 40 amp triacs. I
quickly discovered that I was out of phase with the power and caused
several shorts on the board. I do not know what damage I caused because I
just turned it off and walked away. I was quite angry with myself at my
mistake.
November 20,
2009
Well the word is beginning to get out about the
display. On Wednesday the local
paper published an article about the lights up celebration. They put a
photo on the
front page of the paper of Josh and I working on the display. Since then
people have
been driving by one car after another. I can only imagine what it will be
like after
lights on. We are only a few lights shy of 150,000 lights. It is now
a new record for
me. I still feel we will hit the 200,000 light count.
I think I fried a couple of the 40 amp triac's
on the external board I built.
Fortunately I did not burn up the LOR card, but I did cook a couple of
resistors.
November 24,
2009
Exhausted!! This is how I feel! I
am letting things bother me that should not get to me. I
have not been sleeping well because of concerns of the display. The city
has taken over
our radio transmitter and is broadcasting things that I do not agree with.
I have now
nick named it politics radio. It makes me sick to have to listen to 53
minutes of commercials,
and look what we have done politics. I have considered drastic measures,
but this would be
like a child getting mad at his friend and taking all of his toys home with
him.
It is only 3 days until light-up and I will tolerate politics radio until then.
172,713 is our official light count as of
now. We will exceed 200,000 lights!
December 4,
2009
192,856 is the official light count as of
now. The end is in sight. I will finish
this display today. I have to put up at least 7,146 lights to hit the
200,000
light count.
The display has been quite successful with
large crowds coming by each night.
December 10,
2009
We had a major cold front come
through and damage the display yesterday.
I was fooling around and wrote about it as if I were writing an article in a
news paper. See what I wrote below.
News
Storm hits Charlestown, Indiana area
bringing 30 foot mega-tree to the ground. A
strong cold front came through the area on December 9, 2009
bringing with it high winds and very cold temperatures. The
City of Charlestown, Computer Christmas Light Display
suffered major damage including the loss of it's 30 foot mega-tree.
Many other displays were blown down and incurred minor damage. Josh
Campbell and Mark Obermiller discussed what to do with the
display and decided to cancel the display for Wednesday night
December 9. Campbell said, "that we need time to assess the
damage and to make sure that all the wiring is safe." A
Charlestown police officer witnessed the mega-tree's demise.
He stated that, "the tree was leaning a bit, then a high gust of
wind hit and the tree fell over like it was in slow motion."
"The tree pole itself never actually hit the ground," Obermiller said.
"It just bent to a perfect 90 degree roll, the pipe is bent like it
was put into a conduit bender. You could not ask for a better piece
of rolled 2" pipe. Other than the bent pipe their was no other damage
to the mega-tree. We will put the tree back up when our new piece
of 2" schedule 80 pipe arrives. The first pipe was a schedule 40
piece
of pipe. If this new pipe bends because of wind, then I think
we will be looking for the roof of the gazebo," Obermiller said. "Other
than the mega-tree all other damage has been
repaired," Campbell said. The
display is scheduled to be turned back on Thursday,
December 10 at 6:00pm.  
 
Santa and Ms. Clause will be in the Santa House December
11, 12, 18, and 19 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. The Santa house is
located at the display on the city square in Charlestown.
Santa stated, "That we intend to be there early and hope to
stay late because I expect many kids to come by and see
us in the Santa House."
198,547 is the official light total as of
now. This does include 19,200 lights
on the fallen mega-tree. I do intend to hit 200,000 lights!
December 12, 2009
All Storm Damage is Repaired Our
30 foot mega tree is back up and shining bright! Josh Campbell
and with the help of several others were able to get the tree back up and on
by Saturday December 12, 2009. The main mast of the tree has a 2"
schedule 80 pipe meaning the thickness of the pipe is twice as thick
as the previous pipe.
December 14, 2009 Santa
and Mrs. Clause have large crowds. Santa
and Mrs. Clause were visited by 100's of children and adults this
past Friday and Saturday. The Clause's were very tired after being visited
by
so many. Santa was quoted as saying, "I am very tired, but this is a
happy
tired. I'm so happy that so many came by to see us." Many
small children were afraid of Santa, so those who would not sit on
Santa's lap would see Mrs. Clause and be more willing to sit with her.
I guess it only proves that beauty is more pleasing than an old long haired
bearded guy! 
Santa
and Mrs. Clause will be in the Santa house this Friday and
Saturday December 18th and 19th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
December 15, 2009 Very
cold Temperatures Don't Stop Filming Last
night the Charlestown Digital Connectors were on the square
with their video cameras to video the display. With temperatures
in the mid 20's the connectors were eager to video the lightshow. Charlestown’s
Digital Connectors program identifies talented young people,
immerses them in technology training, and helps them build their leadership
and
workplace skills to enter the 21st century economy. Thank
You!! We
finally achieved a life long goal and that is to surpass the 200,000 light
count. It has taken awhile because of several set-backs, but we will
exceed
200,000 by at least 3000 lights!
December 17, 2009
Last lights are
up!!!!!!!!!!! 206,147 is the official light count for 2009.
To be continued!
Our Christmas light display is
a ministry to all.
We want to send the message;
Remember Jesus!!!
Last update:
Thursday, January 21, 2010 08:05 AM
Do you have any idea's or suggestions?
E-mail me by clicking on the bottle.
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