Christmas lights

Our friend Paul Saskowski asked us to take a look at his impressive Christmas light display in Darien, at Harlow and Sumner roads.  Some of his lights came from the light display the DiSalvos used to put up on Fargo Road, so The Batavian made the road trip last night, stopping along the way to take pictures of the lights of other homes.

A country drive on a snow-covered December evening is good entertainment.  Christmas lights aren't just for city folks.  There's a particularly nice stretch along Alexander Road in Batavia where nearly every home on both sides of the road are lit up, and it's almost magical to drive through. A photo couldn't do the stretch justice.

The first four photos are of the light display of the Saskowski homestead.

Pearl Street Road.

Sumner Road

Sumner Road

Fargo Road, Darien

Route 5, Corfu

Route 5, Batavia

Merry Christmas.

Tonight I took a quick trip around the City of Batavia and took a few pictures of Christmas light displays.

Merry Christmas.

Above, 209 Bank St.

261 State St.

108 Ellsworth​ Ave.

105 Ellsworth Ave.

27 Manhatten Ave.

12 Washington Ave.

211 Richmond Ave.

17 Redfield Parkway

15 Redfield Parkway

30 Roosevelt Ave.

29 Roosevelt Ave.

South Pearl Street

16 Kibbe Ave.

201 Liberty St.

Merry Christmas from all of us at The Batavian.

Here are some pictures from yesterday evening of local Christmas lights, starting with the DiSalvos on Fargo Road, Stafford, followed by the Calls' place on Main Road, Stafford, a house on Naramore Drive, Batavia, Joe Gerace's place on Vine Street, Batavia, a house on Washington Avenue, two on Richmond Avenue, South Main Street, Batavia, then Elba, and finally, the window display for Charles Men's Shop, which won the BID window display contest.

Driving around this time of year you can always find some wonderful displays of Christmas lights and figurines. Since the inception in 2011, Dean Brooks pictured above (family dog "Princess," daughter Mickayla, wife Jennifer and son Spencer) have made this a family activity that has grown over time.

The display at his home at starts getting assembled right after Thanksgiving and usually takes about a week or so depending on weather and family schedules.

"I first started with about 3,000 bulbs, a couple figurines but it has grown to over 7,000 lights and we have been transitioning to a LED display only," Dean said. "The LED lights are brighter, more brilliant of a color, more energy efficient and I can differentiate between those and the incandescent lights.

"The possibilities are huge because the LEDs can be changed to multiple colors."

A new item this year is “talking Rudolph” in the front of the house. The show runs on over an hour then loops back to the beginning through a computer-generated software program and FM transmitter that you can tune into 91.7 when you are in front of his home that the lights and music are synced to.

The plan next year is to expand the megatron tree to have words flashing across it plus much more. The viewing schedule can be found at his Web site http://www.brooksfamilylights.com/

The family's address is 5671 E. Main Street Road, Batavia

Also a Facebook page here: Brooks Family Lights

This evening I drove through Bergen and Elba taking pictures of houses with Christmas lights.

Above 12 Munger St., Bergen

5927 Byron Elba Road, Byron

7474 Oak Orchard Road, Elba

There's a link in the slide show to purchase prints of these photos.

Every year I promise myself (and there's always a couple of requests) that this year I'm going outside of Batavia to shoot Christmas light pictures.  Tonight, I made it to Le Roy and then swung down to Pavilion.

Tonight, I took another drive around Batavia taking pictures of homes with Christmas light displays. Again, I tried to concentrate on homes that possibly I hadn't photographed before, though I believe their are a few duplicates. While I haven't been down every street in the city this year, I have, at this point, been through all the neighborhoods. Sorry if you have a great light display this year and I didn't get to it. To purchase prints of these photos click the "visit gallery" link in the slide show.

The DiSalvos have been bringing Christmastime merriment to children and adults alike for three quarters of a score, and counting. The Fargo Road Lights are a staple on the holiday itinerary of many for miles around. Over a mile of underground cabling and hundreds of heavy-duty extension cords come together to power a plethora of recognizable characters from every holiday book and jingle imaginable. Not to mention, a million multicolored lights dot the landscape in every direction.

We are reminded by such communal generosity – that there may be no greater gift to our little ones than all those many moments we can go out and find with them, that instill a snowballing sense of wonder, splendor, and amazement in their eyes with the world around them. There is comfort in the knowledge that kindness can be genuine and compassion abundant. It's not far – in this case, it's down the road, and over the hill.

As always, Jim, Connie, and Annabella encourage you to come and explore. You are more than free to get out of your car and roam around. And this Christmas weekend, maybe – just maybe – we'll even get a bit of snow to go with all those pretty lights.

Top Photo: Jim, Connie, and Annabella DiSalvo in front of their home on Fargo Road.

Visitors are warmly encouraged to get out of their cars to really take it all in.

I spent some time this evening driving around Batavia and taking pictures of houses with Christmas lights. I've done this each of the past few years (a tradition of The Batavian started by Brian Hillabush). This slide show contains 18 photos. Hopefully, between now and Christmas I'll have time to take more pictures. Tonight I concentrated on trying to find houses I hadn't photographed in previous years. I probably have some duplicates, but hopefully we're featuring some homes that haven't been included in previous years.

With the announcement this morning from the Batavia Area Jaycees of their annual Christmas lights display winners, I drove through Batavia this evening and got pictures of the five houses.

Above, 108 Ellsworth Ave., the traditional winner.

16 Vine St., most colorful.

101 Naramore, overall winner.

23 Meadowcrest Drive, most commercial.

20 Valle Drive, simple and elegant.

I also drove by 19 Trumbull Parkway, the honorable mention, but the lights weren't on.

Press release:

The Batavia Area Jaycees were out driving around on December 18th looking at all the homes that had decorated for the holiday season. We didn’t get a chance to see every house, but what we did see made judging tough!

There are a lot of beautiful homes decorated throughout the community. These awards are meant to be given out as a friendly community project. If you have any questions about the contest, please leave the Jaycees a message at 343-5775.

Homes were judged on five different categories and the winners are:

• Most Traditional – 107 Grandview Terrace
• Simple & Elegant – 323 State Street
• Most Colorful – 237 Vine Street
• Most Commercial – 206 North Spruce Street
• Overall – 37 Union Street

The judging committee also had a few Honorable Mentions to give away:

Outside the City Limits:

• 8485 Stringham Drive & 3927 West Main Street
• 28 Roosevelt Avenue & 16 Vine Street

Some roads we thought did a great job: Redfield Parkway, Union Street, Elm Street, Stringham Drive & Violet Lane.

A homeowner on Stringham Drive has created a light show at his house.

Here's the Christmas light photos I was able to shoot this evening.

I've not been down, necessarily, every street in Batavia, but over the past week I've been through every neighborhood. Time permitting, next week I'll try to get out to some of the villages.

Above, North Avenue.

Victorian Drive

North Spruce Street

Naramore Drive

Belvedere Drive

Garden Drive

Garden Drive

Fordham Drive

Grandview Terrace

Stringham Drive

As of 7 p.m., more than 450 children had arrived at the DiSalvo residence on Fargo Road in Stafford to see Jim DiSalvo's spectacular Christmas light show.

Jim said it was the biggest turn out ever. 

Boy Scout troops from throughout the region were a big part of the attendance.

This year, high school students earning community service credits conducted tours of the multi-acre light display.

I was able to get out and about after sunset this evening. Here's a few of the houses I photographed in all their Christmas light splendor.

Above, Vine Street.

Ellicott Street

Ellicott Place

Backyard, Ellicott Place

Ellicott Place

Trumbull Parkway

Elm Street

Elm Street

Elm Street

Bank Street

Bank Street

For the first time this season, I had some time to get out in the evening and snap some Christmas light pictures. Hopefully, I'll get out more between now and Dec. 25. (If there are photographers in Le Roy, Bergen, Oakfield, Corfu, etc., who have DSLRs and tripods who want to take pictures from their villages, we'd love to see them -- every year it's been hard for me to get beyond Batavia and I'm suspecting this year won't be any different).

Above, Jackson Street

Washington Avenue

Lewis Avenue

Ganson Avenue

Maple Street

Highland Avenue

Kibbe Avenue

Elmwood Avenue

Nominations for this poll are based on what I was able to get out and photograph, and of those, my favorites.

This year's Christmas light pictures can be purchased by clicking here.

Joseph Richmond of the Batavia Area Jaycees submitted this pictures of the group's annual Christmas lights contest winners.

Above, Most Colorful - 8485 Stringham Drive.

More pictures after the jump:

Friend of the Lighting Company - 16 Vine

Honorable Mention - 16 and 18 Tracey

Honorable Mention - All of Redfield Parkway

Most Commercial - 21 Union.JPG

Most Patriotic - 24 Roosevelt

Most Traditional - 12 Vernon Avenue

Overall - 2 Lincoln.

SimpleAndElegant - 14 Union Street