Quite a few strings attached
Largesse of lighting in running on ABC
OF course Jeff and Karol Doody, the Las Vegas couple featured on ABC’S “The Great Christmas Light Fight” at 8 p.m. Wednesday, live at the intersection of Home Light Street and Shining Light Avenue.
They wouldn’t have it any other way. The Doodys’ annual holiday tradition includes at least 75,000 lights — “We lost count a long time ago,”
Jeff said — covering every available portion of their home and small front
yard. The display extends into their backyard, which guests are encouraged to visit. That’s where Karol sells hot chocolate through a window and interacts with wide-eyed attendees.
As big a part of their life as their “Christmas in Vegas” attraction is — and it’s massive, with the installation requiring both of them working 12 hours a day each day for at least a month — the Doodys almost had to skip it this year because of the pandemic. For a while, it didn’t look as if Jeff would be able to take the necessary time off work because many of his co-workers were having to quarantine.
That’s nothing, though, compared with the setback they faced in December 2014, when their house was broken into and the computer that runs the show was stolen. They almost didn’t come back, the Doodys said, but they put together a more subdued effort the following year.
“When we did come back in
2015, even though it was smaller, we both heard from a lot of people how much they appreciated it and how much it meant to them and how happy they were that we came back,” Jeff said. “So that was a really big motivation to go ahead and keep going and get bigger.”
The light show features 16 songs, ranging from standards like “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” to that Christmas classic “Viva Las Vegas,” while their garage is turned into a movie screen. The display is active 5-11 p.m. daily until Jan. 3. (For more information, see the family’s website at christmasinvegas. weebly.com.)
Jeff, 42, said powering all those lights isn’t all that expensive thanks to LED technology.
“Believe it or not, the bill in the summer for the air conditioner is way worse,” he said.
The joy their excess brings others makes it all worthwhile, said Karol, who turned 40 on Tuesday.
“At the moment when you’re working on it, it’s really hard,” she said. “But at the end, it’s worth it.”
Throughout the rest of the year, the Doodys’ display fills the storage units that take up half of their backyard. Having outgrown that, the decorations took over a bedroom as well.
When told that’s some serious dedication to the holiday season, Jeff laughed.
“Dedication or craziness,” he said. “Little bit of both maybe.”