Uszaki at his drive-through light show, Glow, in Washington Township. Photos: Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS
When it comes to Christmas lights and holiday displays, Dan Uszaki goes BIG. So big that for years, cars came from miles around to marvel at his ever-expanding masterpiece of synchronised light and sound – think the Eagles’ fight song – at the Uszaki residence in Deptford, New Jersey, the United States.
So big, in fact, that The Great Christmas Light Fight show picked his home display from last year to be in this year’s national contest, which aired Dec 12.
But big had hit its limit. Uszaki felt he’d exhausted the possibilities of his suburban half acre (0.2ha) and decided that last year was his last.
But he hadn’t counted on neighbours’ reactions.
People got teary talking to him. "We’re so sad to see it go,” they said.
"I just couldn’t ignore it,” said Uszaki, 43, who is the athletic director for the Northern Burlington Regional School District. "I just said, ‘OK, I’m not going to do it at my house. Is there something I can do that’s bigger?’"
The answer to that question was a resounding YES!
Kim driving her niece and nephews (left to right), Stella, Carson and Dalton Stinson, through one of the light tunnels in the Glow drive-through light show.
"My wife thinks I’m freakin’ nuts,” Uszaki said.
Black Friday was the grand opening of Glow, Uszaki and friends’ winter wonderland of synchronised lights, towering cutouts, carnival rides, and other attractions spread across 20 acres (8.1ha) in Washington Township.
The theme of this enterprise is "Glow big or Glow home!”
There is the Dazzling District – a holiday funland with rides including a big Ferris Wheel and a kiddie train, food vendors, everybody-wins-something games, and entertainment.
The 3.5 million lights of Glow
Glow is a three-quarter mile (1.2km) drive-through course of lights and Yuletide and South-Jersey-themed joy. A couple of days before the opening, Uszaki said he was up to over 3.5 million lights.
Christmas-themed cutouts and lights at Glow.
The guy who tries to top himself every year with bigger and better self-made structures – his massive Lombardi Trophy, for one – called on the same talents for Glow. He’s pretty stoked about Sno-torious B.I.G. – a 45ft (13.7m) snowman that will tower over this miracle on Berlin-Cross Keys Road.
Admission to the light show is US$35 (RM164) and up per car, depending on the day and time you go, and the Dazzling District has a US$10 (RM47) per person entry fee, plus activities, pretty much like other holiday parks. Uszaki said it was too costly an undertaking to do for free, even with the backing of some Secret Santas.
That said, Uszaki did as much of the work he could himself, using the knowledge and skills he picked up doing his ever-more ambitious home displays. Plus, he had the help of friends who had assisted over years, especially his buddy Will Frostick. The two of them met online about 10 years ago when Uszaki was just starting his light displays and was looking for advice, and Frostick suggested he stop what he was doing "before your house burns down”. Since then, Frostick, now an IT professional, has become a kind of mentor, coming down from Connecticut to help.
Uszaki hired about 60 people, mostly local folks, for his project. He will have locals selling food. This South Jersey St Nick even tried to include some local references among the Christmas lights; a segment of the drive-through is inspired by the section of the Garden State Parkway between Somers Point and Cape May, he said. And there will also be lighted versions of Jason and Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
Uszaki is hoping Glow becomes a new tradition, something he can continue well past this year.
For some, the question will remain: Why did he do this?
"I needed a Christmas village like I needed a hole in the head,” he admitted.
And this year he really didn’t decorate the house where he, his wife Kim, and their daughter Charleigh and son Chase, 13 and 14, reside. His wife did it – tasteful and nice – but nothing you could see from outer space.
So what drove him to do Glow? He loves Christmas.
"I’ve loved every single thing about Christmas since I was a little kid. I feel the only things I’ve done well in my life is be a good father and a good husband, and my house. I’m living my purpose,” Uszaki said.
"I wanted Christmas to feel really big.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer/Tribune News Service
