REGINA - For around the last decade now, Terry Burant has transformed his Regina home into a Christmas wonderland.
Like many people, Burant grew up enjoying the holidays by spending time with family, either by playing games or watching old Christmas movies.
Burant got the idea to start lighting up his house by seeing other people decorating their own homes. He started out by putting up "five strings of lights, and then the next year you put on another five, and you know you're doubling it, and you sort of double it and double it every year."
Those five strings of lights turned into 20,000 to 25,000 lights, which are displayed for the whole city to bask in.
Burant explained the process of getting the lights and other decorations up. "All of November is spent on actually putting up the display. As far as actually making the other items in the display, a lot of that happens in the middle of [the] summer."
He sets up a system where there can be a different variation of shows, including lights and Christmas songs playing outside at a certain time. The lights will match the song, which ranges from different decades, from the 50s, 60s and current day music. The variation of the shows lasts around 20 minutes, according to Burant.
Even when it’s freezing outside, people can enjoy the lights and music by sitting in their car. Burant sets up a FM transmitter on 93.5, where people around two blocks from the house can play the music inside their vehicle.
One interesting new part of the light show this year is a spotlight that points up at the sky, where many people in Regina can see it from far away.
Burant got the idea from watching films. "At the beginning of a movie, you sort of see the, you know, those lights [the spotlight] that are used in the opening events and that kind of thing. So what better way to sort of, you know, attract people or, you know, draw their attention and hopefully point them towards your house than shooting a great big light beam up in the air."
While Burant wanted to use the spotlight, he first had to get clearance from Transport Canada. He described going through "quite a process. We had to, you know, supply all the specifications, how bright it is, you know, it's about 13 million candle power. So we had to, you know, give him [the worker] all the specs. We had to tell him [the worker], you know, where we're located [and] when it's gonna be on."
Transport Canada eventually gave Burant the clearance to turn the spotlight on at certain hours during the weekend.
Another example of Burant's dedication to Christmas is when he went all the way to the U.S. to get a part for his light display due to the Canada Post strike. He also typically spends around $1,000 each year on lights, goods and more.
A bigger meaning behind the lights
Over the last few years, Burant has used his lights to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.
Burant has a personal connection to cancer, as both his dad and his wife’s mother passed away from cancer.
From these experiences, Burant understands "it's something that affects you know [a lot of people.]"
He added, "we talked to a lot of people, and a lot of people share [with you] their, you know, their thanks and just their stories of how they've been, you know, touched by cancer, themselves and just sort of how they appreciate what we do."
By giving money to the Canadian Cancer Society, Burant feels he can help aid cancer research and make other people's lives a lot better. Burant has raised over $13,000 since partnering with the organization. People interested in donating to the Canadian Cancer Society can put money into a box that is on the lawn of Burant's home or visit cancer.ca.
While Burant is focused on this year's light show, he is already looking ahead to next year's and brewing up some ideas. "There's a few little things [in the works already], you know, a few songs that I've already sort of started to remix for next year, a few little design elements that I don't really want to, you know, [to give away the details]. I kind of [want to] keep them a secret, you know, [from] year to year, but probably, probably as soon as it's nice and warm [out], you know, [is when I start to turn my full attention to next year as] I start taking down the display in a couple of months."
As for this year, Burant's light show will continue to run all the way until Jan. 2. During the week, the light show runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. On the weekend, the light show runs longer than on the weekdays. Burant also mentioned extending the show on the days leading up to Christmas.
On Saturday, Dec. 21, kids can take a picture with the Grinch and Olaf from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
