Lighting Up the Season

As the early Central Oregon mornings glow in the silver frost painted during the cold nights, the change of season becomes undeniable.

While September saw many locals clinging to summer — taking those final camping trips, braving the cooling temperatures for that one last river float of the year, and postponing the back-to-school shopping while the kids dreamed that the inevitable first day of classes just wouldn’t come — three local companies were already looking forward to the season ahead.

By the time October settled in, ladders were pulled out and santa hats were donned as the teams at Fireside Lighting, Christmas Lights Us and Holiday Help set their sights on the holidays and began to light up the Central Oregon night with awe-inspiring Christmas light displays.

Robert Ray, owner of Fireside Lighting, has been personally hanging Christmas lights in Bend for nearly 20 years. His business has consistently grown since he began; however, his passion extends beyond his business and is embedded in giving back and bringing joy to those who may need a little extra help during the holiday season.

“It matters to me; it’s my life and I love the job,” Ray said after sharing his childhood memory of using his own Christmas money to buy colorful strings of lights for his family, who were not able to afford them. “Since the very beginning of the company, it’s been about doing it for people who can’t do it themselves.”

Through working with clients, the Christmas lighting professionals at each of the three local companies are able to design light schemes and patterns that are specific to individual interests and desires. Furthermore, to ensure a seamless design, they custom cut strands of lights to fit each particular home they decorate.

“We can do anything,” Ray said. “I’ve done green and yellow Duck-colored Christmas lights. It’s really whatever you want.”

Today, each company predominately features LED lights, which are replacing the traditional strands of bulbs that everyone has pulled out of storage only to spend endless hours plugging and unplugging the tiny lights until the whole tangled strand finally lights up.

For the family-owned Christmas Lights R Us, this switch to LED is not just a matter of more efficient and safer technology, but also an opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint that comes along with the use of traditional bulbs. LED lights are touted as using as much as 90 percent less energy in the average home display.

“The difference is massive,” said Melody Morrow, co-owner of Christmas Lights R Us, reflecting on the comparison between LED and traditional bulbs when it comes to strings of Christmas lights. “They are safer for the environment, they last 10 years longer and they really replicate the look of the traditional lights.”

As the environmentally sound choice, LED lights are increasingly popular throughout Central Oregon households, whether hung by professionals or done as a family project.

Eric Cole, owner of Holiday Help, explained that while installing Christmas lights is a business, the joy in what he does comes from simply remembering how as a kid, he would stare out the car window at all the bright and colorful Christmas lights decorating the homes as his family drove past.

“I love doing Christmas lights,” Cole said. “It’s gratifying doing the job and driving around and looking at what you did and seeing the customers love it.”

The lights, however, are much more than festive holiday decor; they represent hope and joy in a season that for some, can be challenging. This sentiment of spreading Christmas spirit is one that is shared by all three company owners and their lighting teams, which each year spurs them into a friendly competition.

Through “Light Up Bend,” each company selects a local nonprofit to sponsor and decorates the organization’s facility with an impressive light display, with supplies donated by Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply. The public is then invited to cast their vote for the “Best in Bend Holiday Light Donation.”

The competition is an opportunity to give back to the community while bringing awareness to the nonprofit sector, and to local causes during a season when it is most important.

“The greatest thing is bringing the joy to the holiday season and bringing the beauty of lights to those who can’t afford to have someone put lights up for them,” Marrow said.

As summer becomes a distant memory and fall fades into the rearview mirror, the scene out the side window becomes a bright, colorful and festive view, in part thanks to the three local companies bringing professional Christmas light installation to the Central Oregon communities. While their schedules begin to fill up, those at Fireside Lighting, Christmas Lights R Us and Holiday Help work diligently to keep the soul of the season bright, an effort that can be hectic, but that they all agree is worth it at the end of the day.

You can find each of these companies on Facebook where you’ll see examples of their work and contact information for scheduling your own holiday light installation. The nonprofits that will participate in “Light Up Bend” have not been chosen as of press time. Visit lightupbend.com for current updates.