Which lavishly lit-up house will get to brag that it’s Battle Ground’s brightest?
Twenty-one proudly illuminated Battle Ground homes are competing for the People’s Choice Award in a first-ever Battle of Lights hosted by the city’s Parks and Recreation department.
Viewing and voting are open to everyone, not just Battle Ground residents. Voting closes at 5 p.m. Dec. 21.
To tour the 21 participating homes, start by viewing the contest page and then click through to the map and list of addresses.
The map divides the city into quadrants for easy visiting. Each participating home has an entry number, and the map features a QR code for voting by phone.
Everyone is encouraged to vote, but please keep it to one vote per person.
It may be dark these days, but Daryl Travis’ Christmas light display in the Orchards area is run entirely by the sun.
“As far as I know I’ve got the first solar powered Christmas lights display in the state of Washington,” Travis said.
More than 200 multicolored stars, swirling colors and flashing lights add a slightly psychedelic spin to the candy canes and Christmas trees on display at Travis’ spread at 15810 N.E. 96th St.
“We have over an hour of songs synchronized to the lights that we run throughout the month,” he said.
The display runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Jan. 1.
His whole home is solar-powered too, Travis added, after he qualified for a federal solar-power incentive program a few years ago. He generates 21 kilowatts of power from roof panels, sells it all to Clark Public Utilities and then buys back only what he needs, which is much less, he said.
“It’s saving us a couple hundred dollars a month in electric bills,” he said.
One-hundred thousand is a pretty huge number – and you can see exactly what it looks like at the Buchanan home in east Vancouver. While you’re at it, you can also make a donation to Shriners Hospital.
The winter wonderland father-and-son team Brad and Brant Buchanan have created begins with approximately 100,000 lights, Brant said. The Buchanans have also raised a 30-foot lighted arch over their driveway with hanging mistletoe. There’s a suspended sleigh pulled by reindeer, a 35-foot rooftop candy cane surrounded by lit-up snowflakes, a 20-foot tall lighted tree, a full nativity scene, toy soldiers, mini trees along the sidewalk, lighted Christmas presents in the driveway, a countdown timer to Christmas and more than 260 blow-mold figurines.
One witty neighbor has skipped making any such an effort by just putting up a “ditto” sign that points to the Buchanan display, Brant Buchanan said.
“We are taking donations for Shriners Hospital,” he said. “Last year was a huge success and raised over $1,800 for them!”
The Buchanan lights are up from 4:30 to 10 p.m. daily at 15309 N.E. Seventh St., and will likely stay up through early January.
As always, Jim and Ceci Mains’ “Christmas on Franklin” display is the standout in a lit-up lineup of neighbors’ homes — 10 of them in all — in Northwest Vancouver. The whole scene is pretty darned overwhelming: an almost indescribable collection of lights, gifts, trees, Santas, snowmen, reindeer, Disney favorites, Nativity scene and an opportunity to donate to Waste Connections’ annual food drive.
Lights and music are on at Christmas on Franklin from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly at 4616 N.W. Franklin St. The Journey Carolers will be there from 7 to 9 p.m. Dec. 22 and Santa will be there at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 23.
