Lights display wins $50K
TV show rewards Windcrest pair for Christmas spirit
A Windcrest couple won $50,000 and the jolliest bragging rights for its extravagant Christmas lights display.
John and Brenda Wilson won the top prize on Sunday night’s episode of ABC’S “The Great Christmas Light Fight.” The show spotlights homes across the country that go to the extreme with their Christmas displays.
The Wilsons’ display, “Sweetest Christmas Memories,” featured a reindeer flight school, a Peppermint Express train that emits peppermint-smelling steam, and a cozy bonfire for elves to roast s’mores.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but when we put on our costumes, oh man, there is no other feeling like it,” Brenda said during the episode, explaining that the self-proclaimed Christmas sweethearts have been doing their over-the-top Christmas displays for more than 20 years.
The Wilsons have been competing in Windcrest’s Light Up contest for years and are known for starting their displays as early as June. Last January, when the Wilsons came home one day, they found a note from the “The Great Christmas Light Fight” casting director asking them to compete in the season nine premiere.
This year, the Wilsons competed against three Texas families from Amarillo and Corpus Christi, where they proved everything is bigger in Texas, show host Taniya Nayak said.
Dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus, the couple showed Nayak the yard that included a giant Santa sleigh that took John three months to create and hundreds of thousands of lights meticulously placed around the home.
Nayak said she felt like she stepped into a winter candy land as she took in the “cohesive and colorful” design. She was impressed by the “sprinkles of storytelling” elements throughout the yard and the tiny details that brought everything to life and an ear-toear smile to her face.
“If that’s not Christmas magic, what is?” she said.