12 years of Christmas: Lakeville light display has grown to become hot local attraction
LAKEVILLE — From one year to the next, Lakeville resident Wayne Gateman says he truly doesn’t know if the Crazy Tech Christmas Animated Light Show will return.
It’s a lot of work.
A lot of lights.
A lot of visitors.
But for 12 years running, he’s come to the same conclusion: The show must go on.
“Really, it’s the looks on people’s faces. The impact it has. That’s the part I love,” Gateman said on a recent Friday night.
“We’ve had vets here in tears listening to the military songs. I’ve had families bring their other family members because they’ve lost a love one and they want to try to cheer them up. I’ve gotten emails from people who said they had a bad year or were ill and they came here and for 10 minutes they were kids again, just able to enjoy themselves for a few minutes.
“That’s what keeps me doing it.”
As an active and welcoming host, Gateman is out every night greeting and chatting with guests. And you can’t miss him: He’s wrapped in lights, shoes glowing with a hat that declares, “Yes, this is my house! I am the Crazy Tech!"
Gateman estimates the show had about 20,000 visitors last year, by far a record year. Being a curbside show which small groups view from the comfort of their car — visitors are asked to stay in their cars, turn off their headlights and tune their radios to 87.9 — Gateman says it likely presented families with a worry-free outing during the 2020-21 pandemic holiday season.
The show goes on and the show keeps growing
This year, the Crazy Tech Christmas Animated Light Show totals 78,000 lights. Gateman is happy to share in the technical details, which are, well, intensive. For those who would like to know more, technically speaking, Gateman has information about his set-up posted at CrazyTechChristmas.com.
“And I like the lights,” Gateman said, expanding on his motivation to put in the work and keep the show running year after year.
“The set up is a challenge,” he said. “And so is the take down. There’s times where you won’t hear ‘ho-ho-ho’ while I’m out here setting up or trying to fix something.”
The show started in 2010 with 3,900 lights and 19 songs. The Crazy Tech surpassed 50,000 lights (and over 100 songs) by 2015. He’s been adding slowly but surely since, and likely to pass 80,000 next Christmas.
"It’s not an inexpensive hobby," though. Gateman works a second job to fund the decorations and regular police details. And a few local companies have stepped forward in recent years as show sponsors and to pitch in paying for police details.
While set up is physically demanding, bringing the show to life and setting the lights to music is far is the real challenge and requires hours of programming. Programming a single song can take 12-60 hours, depending on the music and what the Crazy Tech aims to achieve. To date, Gateman has 120 songs and counting, all playing on a loop when visitors tune in.
Origins of the Crazy Tech Christmas Animated Light Show
If anyone knows, Maria Gateman, aka Mrs. Crazy Tech, would like to know how and why her home has become a popular local holiday attraction.
“My wife to this day asks me what started this, because she used to have to bug me (about decorating). Some years I put up no lights, some years I put up just a few on the bushes — a couple hundred lights and a timer.
“One year I said ‘I’m gonna try this,’ and still to this day she looks at me and is like ‘where is this coming from? You wouldn’t put up a couple hundred lights on the bushed and now you’re putting up tens of thousands lights every year.’
“I told her if she ever figures it out to let me know.”
When, where to see the show
The Crazy Tech Christmas Animated Light Show is located at Furlong Circle in Lakeville and runs daily from 4:30 – 10 pm. In the case of inclement weather, show status is posted at CrazyTechChristmas.com. Green means the full show is in operation, yellow means the show is running but not quite at full power and red indicates the show is temporarily down.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Crazy Tech Christmas Light Show in Lakeville continues for 12th year
