Getting into the Holiday Spirit, One Bulb at a Time

In Buffalo Grove, holiday displays might consist of a few strands of lights wrapped around trees or bushes. But for some families, designing intricate displays is as much of a tradition as wrapping presents and eating holiday meals.

Jahns host musical display

The Jahn family’s house springs to life on a dark December evening. Lights are coordinated with music, and flicker and flash in time with the beat. Candy canes line the sidewalk, and the upstairs windows are outlined with lights.

The lights and decorations are the annual tradition of Tim Jahn. Since 2006, he has adorned his parents’ home on Ashford Court with lights and various decorations.

“I saw a house in Buffalo Grove that had a ton of lighting, and I thought ‘I could do that, too,’” he explained, noting that he did his initial research on displays on PlanetChristmas.com, a website dedicated to holiday design.

Jahn, a graduate of , set up a Facebook fan page for his display, which includes the hours of operation and a map to his parents’ home.

Jahn, who now lives in Tinley Park, has remote access to the lights display from his home. His parents, Allen and Maureen, and brother and sister, Mike and Kathy, help out with setting up the display. They also do light maintenance work, such as picking up candy canes knocked down by the wind. Jahn takes care of more major repairs, such as fixing a light strand that’s out.

“He has a few rules for us, too,” Maureen Jahn said. “We can’t park in the driveway because we’ll block the view, and we can’t open the garage door when the lights are on.”

She added that people were concerned the house would no longer be decorated after Jahn moved out.

Jahn has also purchased most of the display, waiting until after Christmas to scoop up discounted items. He also doesn’t throw anything out unless it’s broken. His design is a constant work in progress; he decides what works and what to tweak for the next year. The display consists of approximately 5,400 lights.

An FM transmitter allows visitors to listen to the Christmas carols synchronized with the lights by tuning into 88.1 FM.

This year he has more than 20 songs, including contemporary and classic Christmas carols, coordinated with different lighting effects.

“I tend to use music that I think will cue up well with the display. A song with a deep percussion works well,” he said. “If you sat and listened to all of the songs, it would take you over 40 minutes.”

“It’s great that the house is on a cul-de-sac,” Maureen Jahn said. “People can just keep going when they get to the house.”

“I think the display is beautiful, and they turn off the lights at a reasonable hour,” neighbor Sandy Schiller said. “I just need to be careful when I’m backing out of the driveway.”

“People have come back year after year, and it’s fun knowing that it’s a tradition for other families,” Jahn said. “Over time, people have gotten to know the display is here, so they come back.”

One year, the Jahn family saw an ambulance drive up to the front of the house. “We were worried that something had happened, but that wasn’t the case. The ambulance driver was just watching the display!”

Cortese home lights up for the holidays

If you pass by the Cortese home at night, you will notice its bright Christmas decorations.

“The lights and decorations are a culmination of 52 years,” Cecilia Cortese said. She and her husband, Vito, are the original owners of their home on Hiawatha Drive. “My kids and grandkids all love the decorations, too.”

The Corteses start decorating soon after Halloween, and the decorations are up through the first week of January, depending on weather.

Their rules for which items to display are simple: No blow-ups, and don’t place anything near the edge of the driveway. “The snow has to go somewhere when you shovel, and you don’t want anything blocking it,” Cecilia Cortese said.

“What I like is that every house is decorated differently,” Vito Cortese said.

Monkos mark Christmas with outdoor display

For Greg and Jola Monko, decorating their home for Christmas is a big tradition.
“I’m from Poland, where we celebrate Christmas a lot more,” Jola said. “We love the holiday, and we celebrate it more than any other holiday.”

Inspired by her neighbors, she has set out a variety of displays, including a Christmas tree made of light strands, reindeer and polar bears in front of her home at Hiawatha Drive and St. Mary's Parkway. Jola has added something new every year to increase her decoration display.

While Christmas is the main holiday for the Monko family, Jola said she might decorate for other holidays as well.

“I wish other people would do more displays, too,” she said.

Other festive homes

K3Lights.com created a slideshow featuring the decorations at some Buffalo Grove homes. The two-minute video can be viewed here.