Days is perhaps getting shorter, however central Mainers are illuminating the lengthy nights with elaborate mild exhibits for the vacation season.
Augusta West Kampground at 183 Holmes Brook Lane in Winthrop, owned by husband and spouse Kale and Brittany Malmsten, started internet hosting a lightweight present solely final yr, however it’s shortly changing into one of many extra noteworthy occasions within the space, with final yr’s mild present stretching practically three-quarters of a mile with about 100 lighted timber and enormous show items.
Kaleb Pushard of SkyBox Vacation & Occasion Lighting stated final yr the Winthrop present featured greater than 100,000 lights.
Kale Malmsten and Pushard stated the finances for the primary occasion was properly into six figures. And though between 13,000 and 15,000 individuals attended, the Malmstens didn’t make again the cash spent on the lavish present.
“We knew getting into that we had been going to take a little bit of a loss,” Brittany Malmsten stated.
As a result of the reception was so overwhelming, Kale Malmsten stated the couple had been keen to provide it one other shot and make issues even greater for 2022.
Guests stroll Friday previous a dump truck, certainly one of a number of adorned items of development gear, throughout Winter Wonderland at Augusta West Kampground at 183 Holmes Brook Lane in Winthrop. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Final yr, they’d parking house for about 200 automobiles, which Kale Malmsten stated has been practically doubled for this yr.
Santa and Mrs. Claus are scheduled to make appearances each Friday and Saturday evening main as much as Christmas, and a photographer is to be current to take footage of company.
The biggest addition is a 45-foot, hollowed-out tree adorned with greater than a half-mile of lights. Brittany Malmsten stated company can stroll by way of the tree, and staring up from inside is like peering by way of an enormous kaleidoscope.
“It’s mesmerizing,” she stated.
Tickets may be bought both on the Augusta West Kampground web site — www.augustawestkampground.com/winter-wonderland — or the Winter Wonderland Fb web page. Kale Malmsten stated company are inspired to buy tickets on-line to keep away from having to attend in line to purchase them in particular person.
Company can stroll by way of the Winter Wonderland on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and drive by way of the present Wednesdays and Sundays. The occasion is scheduled for five to eight p.m. every evening, with slots out there each quarter-hour for driving and each half-hour for strolling.
The Weeks household’s Christmas show, photographed Thursday at 188 Small Highway in Litchfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Kale Malmsten stated he isn’t too apprehensive about cash, and simply hopes company have a very good time.
“Even when we don’t end up within the black, if we come near breaking even, I’m completely happy sufficient to maintain going with it,” he stated. “We’re attempting to push extra that is extra of an expertise than simply Christmas lights.”
Whereas the Malmstens have just lately begun internet hosting a lightweight present, Scott Weeks has been lighting his Litchfield house at 188 Small Highway for greater than a decade.
Weeks, alongside along with his spouse, Michelle, his daughters Samantha and Lindsey and his father, Owen, have put aside a month every year to arrange and embellish their house for the vacations.
The Weeks household’s Christmas show, photographed Thursday at 188 Small Highway in Litchfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Weeks stated that when he was a child, he all the time helped his household with the vacation lights. His greatest inspiration to start his personal present, nonetheless, was Dr. Darryl Zeleniak, an Augusta orthodontist who hosts a Christmas lights and music present at his workplace at 132 State St.
Zeleniak and his spouse, Karen, have been holding a lightweight present on the Augusta workplace for nearly 20 years. The present, nonetheless, shouldn’t be taking place this yr.
Karen Zeleniak stated her husband is coping with a again damage and he or she just lately suffered a coronary heart assault, stopping them from having the ability to arrange their vacation show. She stated the general public response has been overwhelming, with many individuals apprehensive in regards to the couple’s well-being.
Subsequent yr, Karen Zeleniak stated, the couple plan to renew their mild present.
The Zeleniaks started their vacation show way back by adorning the entrance of their constructing. They might then add to it every year.
They quickly started incorporating music into the present, and programming the lights to sync with the beat. They later added a “mega tree” to the entrance of their constructing, which may be programmed to show distinctive photographs.
The Weeks household’s Christmas show, photographed Thursday at 188 Small Highway in Litchfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“We did ‘Frozen,’ and had Elsa on the tree,” Karen Zeleniak stated, “after which for the Grinch tune, we had the Grinch there, with all of the completely different elements of the tune that discuss various things, like crocodiles, so it bought to be fairly difficult.”
However because the present grew, so did its viewers, together with guests from different states.
The Zeleniaks’ present and its reputation impressed Weeks to begin his personal present a couple of decade in the past, when he took his daughter to Darryl Zeleniak’s workplace. The orthodontist informed Weeks about Mild-O-Rama, a web site that distributes software program and equipment to make the sunshine present occur.
“A couple of {dollars} later and right here I’m,” Weeks stated.
Weeks works along with his household to program each tune featured within the present.
“Each tune we program is damaged down into tenths of a second, and every controller has 16 channels,” he stated. “We inform every channel when to return on and the way lengthy to return on. We discovered that it usually takes 1 1/2 to 2 minutes to program every second of a tune.”
Folks can then cease in entrance of the home and tune their radios to an FM frequency that enables them hearken to the music of their automobiles.
The show additionally includes a donation field for the Kennebec Valley Humane Society in Augusta. Weeks stated guests sometimes donate between $500 and $1,500 every season.
The Weeks’ present is ready for 4:30 to 10 p.m. every evening till Christmas, and probably till the brand new yr, relying on the climate. Weeks stated the Grinch is predicted to make an look earlier than Christmas, though the date remains to be being determined.
Nearer to Waterville, the China Highway Christmas Park is once more promoting it has opened at 1229 China Highway in Winslow.
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