Meanwhile in New York: Festive Family Sets Guinness Record For Holiday Lights (And They’re Out of This World)

Photo: susaro (Getty Images)

It’s the “most wonderful time of the year.” And no, we aren’t simply referring to Christmas presents, boozy eggnog, and the yearly Festivus “airing of grievances.” We’re talking about the twinkling, blindly bright, nostalgia-inducing holiday lights the adorn houses from Temecula to Tampa Bay.

Many people take it easy with a few lights on a tree or bush and maybe a handful on their roof all paired with a blow-up reindeer and that’s about it. That’s fine with us, we enjoy all manner of holiday lights. But we get really excited one someone really gets crazy with it and adds so many lights that the power company has to be notified before they flip the switch to avoid rolling blackouts.

This is exactly what one New York family is doing this year. Tim Gay and his family in Lagrangeville, New York not only have a few extra twinkling lights this year, he has so many lights that he actually set the Guinness World Record with 687,000 lights. To add to that, he was the previous record-holder when he covered his house with 601,736 lights back in 2014.

Named for his children’s initials, it’s called the ERDAJT Holiday Lights Display. He told the Albany Times-Unions that his holiday glee comes from his mother’s love of decorating the house for the holidays.

Not only is it bright, vibrant, and magical, it’s also for a good cause. Gay uses his annual light display to raise money for local charities including the Union Vale Fire Department’s community fund and has a goal of collecting $500,000 this year.

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