Traditions continue in Jamestown neighborhood: 10 homes with synchronized lights
RACINE COUNTY — The lights in the Jamestown neighborhood are ready to rock to all the best holiday hits this season.
This show is one that is carefully curated and not one that features a pre-purchased sequence. It’s a dazzling display made with love by Jamestown neighbors for all neighbors.
The lights blink and dance. Viewers can not only see the show but hear it too, within the Jamestown neighborhood, at two different destinations.
A bond formed through bright lights
Mike Pikula and Grayson Kirchenberg are neighbors, but they’re also a pair with a unique bond.
Pikula and Kirchenberg connect through computers and a Christmas light show.
Mike is the mastermind, head of operations, and an experienced engineer. He started the show at his family home in Franklin, Wis. before kicking off all things Christmas in Caledonia.
It was this spot that connected him to an aspiring creator from the next generation. Once upon a time, Grayson was just an attendee, but he quickly stepped into a role that became much more than just a watcher.
Last year, Grayson’s father told the Racine County Eye, “He was asking questions when he was three. We reached out to Mike on Facebook. He invited us over so he (Grayson) could see it (the lights) and explain it (how it works) because I had no idea how this stuff works,” said Grayson’s father, Dan.
The 14-year-old is now Pikula’s sidekick and right-hand man.
Grayson’s been helping Mike with his show ever since he can remember. Utilizing items from Mike and crafting other pieces, Grayson has also been able to offer Racine County a display in his yard within Jamestown since 2018, in addition to helping with the music and lights in Pikula’s neck of the woods.
Bringing Christmas joy to others via computers“He’s growing too, but he’s growing a lot faster than I ever started out here. He just naturally liked it,” Mike said about computer programming and the intricate light displays. “It’s one thing to like it, but then to figure out how to do that...he’s self-taught on the computer. I’m really impressed with his knowledge and enthusiasm to do this.”
The holidays are all about traditions, and for Mike and Grayson, making traditions come to life through their holiday light shows is what they are all about.
For Grayson, he says he does it for the community. Mike agrees, it’s all about providing a free show for those in the area.
“We do it for the community, for the kids,” said Grayson.
“Every night, I get home from swim practice, and I go straight to the computer to start working on the lights,” he said.
The amount of hours the two have spent on the shows can’t be tallied, but it’s certainly a labor of love.
“It’s very time-consuming,” admitted Mike.
Pikula’s partIt’s a classic, at this point, to visit the show at Pikula’s, but it’s not just his Jamestown backyard, the show stretches into a total of seven yards.
“Douglas Fir,” the host and personality of the show will guide visitors through the show which takes just about an hour and 10 minutes. Accompanying him for the third year is “Randy Balsam,” the great guitar player.
Interestingly enough, the voices of these characters are professionals and friends of Mike’s.
Jim Douglas is the voice behind Douglas Fir and Bill Shannon stars as Randy.
Through the years, neighbors to the left and right of the Pikula house have joined in on the fun, decorating their backyards with unique Christmas lights.
The show features a large panorama of lights made possible by multiple homeowners. There are seven homes near Williamsburg Way involved in the Jamestown holiday attraction.
New this year on Pikula’s side of the Jamestown neighborhood is a field of about 40 Peace Pipes. There are also more LED lights featured this year than ever before.
Listening to the lightsListen to the lights at Mike’s by tuning your car’s radio to 97.7 FM to experience the full holiday program.
Find the lights
The lights at Mike’s are located one block east and two blocks south from the roundabout of Highway 38 and Highway K in Racine County.
Make the first right after going east through the roundabout to Taurus Drive, then head south on Taurus Drive into the Jamestown subdivision. As you drive between the ponds, look to your left and right. There you will see your first entertainment stop for the night.
Grayson’s gigFollowing the show by Mike’s, showgoers will want to visit Grayson’s show next.
Grayson’s parents’ home serves as the stage for the main show on Heritage Avenue. Grayson’s show is best known as the Heritage Avenue Holiday Light Show . There are two additional neighbors who are a part of his side of the neighborhood’s holiday display, making a grand total of 10 houses that have become a part of the holiday hit attraction in the Jamestown neighborhood.
Grayson told the Racine County Eye that new this year is an eight-foot wire tree that features eight sections, each having various effects.
It’s all in the details and all the hard work is made worthwhile when people find joy in the jumping lights and jazzy tunes.
“New songs in my show this year are ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ ‘Sleigh Ride,’ and ‘Little St. Nick.’ The program for ‘Sleigh Ride’ is special because it is actually one of Mike’s old sequences that I adapted to fit my show,” said Grayson.
His show is longer than ever before totaling about 20 minutes of entertainment this year.
See the shows in JamestownViewers can take in as much or as little as they desire. Drivers should be considerate of the traffic density. The show plays Sundays through Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m., and from 5 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
These family-friendly shows run through Jan. 1.
‘Parking’ vs. ‘standing’ or ‘stopping’For safety reasons, the Caledonia Police Department requests that attendees do not on Taurus Drive when visiting the main show.
“’No Parking’ means parking and leaving the vehicle. As long as you remain inside your vehicle you can stay there to watch the show. That is considered ‘standing’ or ‘stopping’,” said the Caledonia Police Department . Turn off your headlights as a courtesy to other viewers. Keep the kids inside the car, and do not park or stop facing traffic.
Please drive safely and enjoy the expansion of this year’s show.
