Driving tour highlights best holiday displays
“A lot of people put time into the lights, and it gives people a lot of joy. We need as much of that as we can get this year.”
Erica DePalma, Norwalk Board of Education member
NORWALK — With the coronavirus pandemic forcing more people to stay home this holiday season, Board of Education member Erica DePalma said she noticed more elaborate light displays outside Norwalk houses than usual. That sparked an idea. DePalma, wiho has a career in marketing technology, decided she wanted to celebrate those who went all-out for decorations and created a Google Map tour of the best-decorated homes in the city.
“A lot of people put time into the lights, and it gives people a lot of joy,” DePalma said. “We need as much of that as we can get this year.”
The map route is an
hourlong tour that takes users through the city in a counterclockwise path, starting in East Norwalk and ending in Spring Hill. While there are 28 houses on the list, DePalma said she arranged the map so users will pass by other well-decorated houses not included as official stops.
As of Monday, the map had over 5,000 views since its creation on Dec. 13, DePalma said. As Google Maps places a limit of 10 stops per map layer, DePalma sectioned each layer of the map as a different part of Norwalk.
To gain support and learn about the most decked-out houses, DePalma posted on her personal Facebook page as well as the I Love Norwalk CT! page on Dec. 12.
“People started sending me addresses back and tagging me on photos,” DePalma said. “I had my brother organize the easiest route and it made a tour. I work in tech, so the Google Maps part was easy to put together.”
Also on the I Love Norwalk CT!, the Facebook page’s creator and moderator Kevin Mullins began a holiday light display photo contest.
Members of the page can submit photos or videos to the Facebook page of any holiday light display around the city for a $100 prize from the Broad River Church on New Canaan Avenue. The award will be given to the photographer, rather than the home or establishment that created the display, Mullins said.
While the church is offering the cash prize in the hopes that the recipient will donate the funds to a local family or charity, the award will work on an honor system, Mullins said.
“Driving around town, I noticed it feels like because of all we’ve come through people are decorating more this year,” Mullins said on how the contest came about.
Entries for the photography contest are being accepted until midnight on Dec. 27, he said.
The light displays made
DePalma think of her father’s annual holiday decorations. DePalma’s father, Jim Lyons, creates an elaborate display each year, mainly for his grandchildren’s delight.
“The look on my kids’ faces when we pull up is extraordinary,” DePalma said of her daughters Brooklyn, 7, and Jameson, 9.
Lyons lives on a side road in East Norwalk, with little traffic. Nevertheless, he continues the tradition of holiday scenes spread across the front lawn. This year’s setup is complete with a sleigh big enough for the kids to pile in, accompanied by two light-up reindeer.
“It’s more about the people who took the time to put the lights on their houses,” DePalma said. “They’re bringing joy to kids. They’re the real heroes. They’re out in the cold dealing with tangled lights.”