Chris Zornes hopes people will be happy when they see the light display outside his house at 622 Caldwell Ave., Mansfield. “That’s all I want to do is put a smile on somebody’s face,” he said.
Zornes started his extensive home light show three years ago. The Mansfield resident created his own signs out of wood with “Chris’s Wonderland” stenciled in red and green on it as advertisement. The signs are placed in high traffic areas like at the corner of 5th Avenue and Ohio 42 (Ashland Road); on 5th Avenue at the on/off ramps of Ohio 30; and a couple signs are also posted on Ohio 545.
“I’ve always put up a little bit of lights,” he said. “I started seeing people come by so I added more and more and more [lights].
“It puts a smile on people’s faces,” he added.
When he started the light show in 2010 he said he started small with about 500 lights but it has grown with more lights and more show – 9,000 lights – this year. Zornes simply wanted to share his love for lights with anyone who wants to see them.
“I’ve actually had people stop and take pictures,” he said.
Visitors will see multiple strings of lights that make a Christmas tree in the center of the yard. The house is trimmed in dangling lights and a huge bell that looks like its ringing in sequence as the lights blink on and off. Around the yard is a Ferris wheel which is decked out with lights; and on the other side of the yard, there is a blinking reindeer, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and snowmen. There are also numerous lights shaped in displays around the house and the yard. There is even a digital clock that counts down the days until Santa’s arrival. And all the 9,000 lights are synchronized to favorite holiday classics, such as “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” and “Jingle Bells.”
Zornes and his wife, Vickie, usually start putting up the lights in September. “I got a late start this year. I started after Halloween,” he said.
The 35-year-old said he tries to add something new every year to his homemade light show. “I just added more lights this year,” he said. “More lights along the porch and on the Ferris wheel.”
He said he is already planning for next years’ light show.
“I’m thinking about making a bigger Ferris wheel to put on the side of my yard,” he said. “And making some cut outs of houses to make like a little villa on the side of my house and adding another nine to 10,000 lights on it.”
Zornes said his goal is 45,000 lights. His electric bill only jumps $40, he added.
“I start the lights after Thanksgiving and run them all the way until the first of the year,” he said.
A new computer system for the lights is on tap for next Christmas also. The new system will make the lights shimmer, twinkle, and go in and out. All the current LED lights are plugged into a “box” which is how they are synchronized with the music, Zornes added.
“I start watching the Christmas shows as soon as they start coming on TV,” he said. “This is my favorite time of the year.”
“I’ve always put up a little bit of lights,” he said. “I started seeing people come by so I added more and more and more [lights],” said Chris Zornes of Mansfield.
