It’s that time of year again, for the nights to get colder and the lights to go up for the holiday season.
Despite a couple of setbacks, Paul Aziz’s light show is in preparations for its eighth annual display.
The Cascade Christmas Lights show is expected to begin Friday, Dec. 1, and will feature new props and a special guest.
Aziz, owner of Paul’s Computer Repair, always begins his light show on Thanksgiving night, but this year had to delay its opening due to unexpected health issues.
Programming a Christmas show takes Aziz nearly a year to design, but he lost about six weeks of that time to hospital stays and illness, he said.
For that reason, “Frozen” will be a part of the show, but he might not be able to include “Polar Express;” but he’ll try.
As is usually the case every year, there will be some changes in decoration, including a new man-made “mega tree.” The 18-foot tree will be topped with a star and have 32 rows of lighting that do more than sparkle.
“They’ll be so close that it will actually be able to have graphics on it, and spell things out,” Aziz said.
“It’s gonna be pretty amazing.”
He also has a special guest lined up for December 9.
Judy Pancoast, a Grammy nominated children’s singer, will perform a sing-along concert at Aziz’s house during her House on Christmas Street 2017 Charity Tour. Pancoast will also sing her own song, “House on Christmas Street.”
“She loves decorating, and that’s how she started and wrote the song, because it’s all about decorating your house with too many lights,” Aziz said.
Pancoast is performing her tour at houses in the U.S. that display Christmas light shows and collect for charity, he said. She sang at Aziz’s house a few years ago.
This is the second year Cascade Christmas Lights will collect donations for the Lebanon Kid Packs program. Last year the community pooled together 188 lbs. of food and $2,560 in donations, which is the largest amount received in a year at Aziz’s light show.
“It’s a neat program. I really like it,” he said of the kids pack program.
“It’s very similar to the soup kitchen, but it’s really directed towards the kids.”
Cascade Christmas Lights, located at 312 E. Sherman St. in Lebanon, is expected to start Dec. 1, and runs nightly through Jan. 1.
Shows air between 6 to 11 p.m. every night, and can be heard in the warmth of your car by tuning the radio to 100.9 FM.