CONNECTICUT — It all began with The Lights.
Around two centuries before Christ was born, the Maccabees drove the Greek army from the Temple and re-lit its menorah. One day’s worth of oil burned for eight, and Chanukah lights have been lit annually to commemorate the miracle ever since.
The festival of Diwali is nothing less than the victory of Light over Darkness. Today, Hindus continue to light oil lamps in their homes and on the streets to celebrate the W.
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The Romans’ Sol Invictus (originally a Syrian deity) was the empire’s principal sun god from the 270s to the 300s A.D. They lit everything up for his birthday on Dec. 25, a date later co-opted by the Christians during the “let’s just try and blend in” phase of their history.
The Lutherans get the credit for being the first to ignite celebratory evergreens in the dead of winter, but the practice of setting bonfires — and yule logs — on or around the longest night of the year dates back to the druids.
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In 2024, whether you’re celebrating the return of the sun god or the birth of the Son of God, one thing is certain: the annual ritual now involves a lot of electricity.
In Connecticut, we’ve got this end-of-year holiday house lighting thing down to an art and a science. Patch asked readers to send in photos of their favorite neighborhood displays, and you did not disappoint.
Here’s 104 Chimney Hill Road in Wallingford. Now, you may have a cool display of inflatables in your front yard, but is it Snowman-With-A-Candy-Cane-Sax cool? We’ll guess, “no.”
Another neat achievement in holiday light design: 1801 Whitney Avenue in the Spring Glen section of Hamden looks just as good unlit during the day…
…as it does lit up at night — maybe even better:
The family at 55 Sugar Hill Road in North Haven had a lot of space to fill. Now their driveway is tricked out like a runway at Bradley — very convenient for the reindeer nearby about to take off:
The lights on this house at 17 Sherwood Circle in Manchester extend to the detached garage:
The extra touches in this already over-the-top display at 74 Nutmeg Hill Road in Hamden include “Naughty” and “Nice” lists with the names of the children and grandchildren of the residents of the neighborhood:
It’s a smaller footprint, as Connecticut Holiday Lights Tour homes go, but 17 Pasco Street in Meriden still packs a wallop:
We’re not sure what the homeowners used to get that sparkly ground effect at 90 Milici Circle in Meriden — fairy dust? flying reindeer poop? Still, Fido appears unimpressed.
For Tor Blackstad and his neighbors on Wilbar Avenue in Milford, decorating the house with holiday lights is not a solo quest, but an adventure best shared:
It’s not true that every time the family at 154 Stagecoach Circle in Milford turns on their display, the lights dim throughout the rest of the neighborhood. Really, it’s not…
At 84 Ledge Road in New London, it may seem like it’s just a short walk for the three wise men from Santa’s Castle to Christ’s manager in Bethlehem, but that’s just a trick of the lights…
When it comes to the holiday lights display at 7 Bernardino Ave in Enfield, it’s the quirky bits that fascinate: The reflection off the basketball back board… the snowbunny… the mailbox…
Who says you have to just light up the front of the house during the holidays? The family at 29 Alden Drive in Guilford obviously gets plenty of use out of their backyard fire pit during the cold months, so that’s where most of the lighting love went.
So what’s your local municipality do to call back the sun, string a couple of electric snowflakes together outside Town Hall and call it a season? Then you don’t live in Guilford, where civic pride borders on being a contact sport during the holidays. Guilford Parks & Rec Director Pamela Gery told Patch, “We think our lights at the Guilford Community Center are GORGEOUS this year!!” And we’d have to agree:
The problem with most municipal holiday displays is that politics will prevent them from including Santa in a helicopter, Orloff the Snowman, or even the Baby Jesus. The residents of 157 Bennett Street in Fairfield were not so constrained:
And if there’s no Orloff, you can be certain there are no sharks, or Baby Yoda. That’d be a non-starter for the folks living at 94 Seaside Avenue in Milford:
It’s clear that when it comes to holiday house lights in Connecticut, white and gold are the new red and green. We received some absolutely stunning photographs of displays that didn’t just lean into monochrome, but embraced it.
167 Sturges Ridge Rd. Wilton:
7 Evelyn Drive, Shelton:
Tide Mill Terrace, Fairfield:
53 Sunflower Avenue, Stratford:
Is it just the camera angle, but are the dog and the Grinch in the last row really taller than the house at 80 Rolling Meadow Road in Madison?
The Patch reader who submitted the photo of the display at 25 Peddler Drive in Windsor described it as “awesome,” and it’s tough to argue:
There’s a time and place for Griswoldian excess, and a time for the poetic minimalism of a tree in a canoe. This one is anchored in Palmer Cover near The Fisherman at Long Point in Groton.
Happy Holidays from Connecticut Patch!
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