Boerne family wins $50K in ABC’S ‘Light Fight’ with community’s aid

A community coming together helped a Boerne family win $50,000 for its overthe-top Christmas lights display.

Beto and Mariana Hinojosa and their two sons lit up the competition on ABC’S “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” in which families from across the country show off their extreme Christmas lights displays.

Their episode aired Dec.

The entry featured a standing display and a light show set to music that filled the Hinojosas’ yard with lights, including a giant blue river — built by the eldest Hinojosa child and his dad — that “flowed” through the yard.

Beto said their love of Christmas lights started nearly nine years ago when he and Mariana got married. Their first Christmas they wrapped a car in lights, and it brought their neighbors so much joy that the two “got the bug” and continued expanding their display year after year, Beto told Taniya Nayak, host of “The Great Christmas Light Fight.”

The middle school principal said his family’s display is representative of their community coming together. Over the years, their neighbors and friends have donated to the extravagant display, including a tree farm that the community donates to so the Hinojosas can give a tree to anyone in need.

Beto said one of his favorite elements in the yard is a bubble-producing train that a neighbor built that reminds Beto of his childhood Christmases traveling to Mexico to visit his dad.

To complement the lights, the art club at Beto’s school decorated the driveway and sidewalk with chalk.

“It is truly magical,” Nayak said. “It is elegant and playful merging together perfectly. What impresses me is how much the community adores you.”

The episode also featured three other Texas families from Palmview, Conroe and Frisco. But Nayak said the community element of the

Hinojosas’ display is what put it over the top.

“Externally, it is beautiful, but internally, it is gorgeous,” she said, referencing the collective efforts.

The Hinojosas are the second San Antonio-area family to win the coveted “Great Christmas Light Fight” trophy this year. John and Brenda Wilson of Windcrest placed first in the show’s season nine premiere last month.

“When I think of all the people who helped us put it together, we were winners already,” Beto said.

The Hinojosas’ light display can be seen nightly from 5:30 to 10 p.m.