Abingdon Father & Son Engineer High Tech Holiday Display For Philanthropy, Maximum Cheer
ABINGDON, Md. (WJZ) -- Not too far off the Long Bar Harbor and Bush River, a holiday display 8,000 pixels deep and loaded with graphics is bringing Christmas cheer and even more to the Abingdon community.
Chris and his son Jeremy Jewell are the architects of the show. Chris talks about one of the centerpieces of his front yard.
"That mega tree is 16-foot to the top and it's a two-foot star so it's a total of 18 feet," he said. "I've always put up Christmas lights every holiday season and once we saw these lights last year, I kind of fell down a rabbit hole."
It took about 40 hours to program, the duo said.
Music is included. Arches. Candy canes. Stars with a WJZ flair and a big audience.
Joanne Cantler is from Abingdon.
"It's amazing. This is our second time. We came about a week ago when we had our granddaughter with us too," said Joanne Cantler of Abingdon. "She's not even 2 yet and she sat through the whole thing!"
9-year-old Victoria loved the show.
"I like how it's all bright and how it's just very colorful," she told WJZ.
"I started building props in February of last year," Jewell said. "I order the controllers and get everything mapped and figuring out how I was going to make the controllers talk to all the smart receivers."
The finished product is making the rounds in the neighborhood just in time for the spirit to take over.
"For me, Christmas has always been a time of giving," he said. "This is just a way I can give back to my community."
Jewell isn't just a light artist. He's a philanthropist as well. The show is free but he is collecting donations for the Abingdon Volunteer Fire department.
