Over 50,000 people flood New York town for world-record Christmas light display
One home in a small New York town is taking Christmas lights to a new level, and causing a stir.
Timothy and Grace Gay of Union Vale, New York, say they've held the Guinness World Record for most lights on a residential property since 2014.
This year, the couple displayed more than 720,000 lights, all programmed to music in order to celebrate the holiday season in style.
"It started just very simple with just 600 lights on the two trees by the front steps," said Tim Gay. "And one year, my brother suggested, 'Put lights around the pond.' Once we did that, that was actually the spark that ignited adding more lights each year."
Setting up the elaborate design is no small task. The Gays say it takes their family three months to set up the display that has 40 miles of lights and 8 miles of extension cords. Each light flickers to carefully choreographed music through a computer program.
"In the house, there's a computer with the software that controls the lights. It sends out a wireless signal to 108 unique light controllers outside," said Gay.
Each year, anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 people visit the small town of about 4,500 to see the Gays' light display.
"We have seen every license plate in our driveway with the exception of Hawaii," said Gay.
The Christmas cheer in town is not completely ubiquitous, however. Lead Constable George Treadwell said some residents complain about the traffic created by the thousands of visitors.
"We're trying to get everybody [to] enjoy themselves, but we're trying to keep the road open for the residents who live here. It's a neighborhood so they don't see this kind of traffic except for this time of the year," Treadwell told "GMA."
The Gays said the abundant Christmas cheer ultimately funds a good cause. The family said over the last three decades, they have collected over $665,000 for charity from visitors. Much of that money goes to children's organizations, according to the family.
"It does create traffic, obviously," said Gay. "So I weighed, 'OK, raising money for childhood cancer and homeless children to putting up with a little traffic for a few nights.' So, I kind of weigh towards the children."
