Walt Dukes wanted to start a family tradition upon settling in Evans in 2022.
The family had lived in Atlanta before the electrical engineer moved to the area with his job at Georgia Power.
“With my oldest son, one of the things we liked to do was ride around and look at the Christmas lights,” said Dukes, whose home on Jutland Way in Riverwood Plantation is part of the 2023 Columbia County Christmas Light Fight.
There was only one problem. Dukes doesn’t like decorating. In February 2022, he began planning a lights’ display at fit in with his personality.
“I’m a techie,” he said.
A fan of the ABC reality show, The Great Christmas Light Fight, he saw on it a type of décor that meshed well with his taste and love of technology. He also found a community of techie decorators online. His yard is outfitted with a pixels’ display and yes, he’s touched all of the almost 20,000 of the individual bulbs that go into the design.
It took almost a year to put together his first display and coordinate it with the music. There’s a mix of songs in the almost two-hour playlist. It features a traditional set as well as a Disney portion and a gospel grouping.
Faith is at the center of his display with a nativity in front of the 22-foot-tall tree. There are also trios of Christmas bulbs and trees which banter with dad jokes and sync with the music.
New this year is a snow blowing machine, which is a favorite of both of his sons, Sonny, 8, and Wyatt, 2.
While people can drive by and listen to music in their cars at 90.1, Dukes said a lot of families in the neighborhood walk over and listen to the music, take photos in front of the tree and angel wings and enjoy the lights.
As part of his display, he also has a big screen, and he’d like to incorporate audio such as Christmas stories there.
He likes that neighbors want to gather in the yard and enjoy the décor.
He also decorates at Halloween. It’s a trial run of sorts for Christmas because finding replacement parts can be tricky. The weekend’s rains put one of his trees out of commission for the season. But people also enjoy his Halloween display. It too brings the neighbors together.
Janet Dukes said she doesn’t do quite as much decorating on the inside although she does have two Christmas trees.
The Dukes’ home is one of eight in this year’s Light Fight. Voting ends Sunday. To see the other houses, go here. Also, there’s a Columbia County Christmas tour map here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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