Christmas in July?

In an effort to bring more awareness to our Christmas Show and to our Charity, a local foodbank, we put up our unfinished sign and the new Polar Bear. It will no doubt make a lot of people wonder whats going on. So much so that they will go to website to see what it is all about. (and that's what brought you here).

This blog is about how to construct a light display for Christmas. The Light Show serves as a vehicle to solicit non-perishable foodstuffs to donate to the local foodbank in the Willamina-Sheridan, Oregon area. Please remember that foodbanks serve the public all through the year, not just at holidays, so make yourself feel good by donating to the foodbanks.

Our house is on a corner lot and the side yard where the sign and polar bear are will be one of the busiest streets later on in the evening (July 4th). It will be busy because after the fireworks are over a few blocks away, a lot of folks will be trying to use the street to get to the highway. Last year, we counted well over 150 cars passing by within an hour's time. As each car goes past our house, they will wonder what a polar bear is doing in our yard! Wave as you go by!

Be sure to check out our Charity's page (link on the right). Come back at Christmas to see a huge improvement in the size of our display. Have a great summer!

Meanwhile... back at the branch.

As your display gets larger, you will have to figure out better ways to control the massive amount of electrical power running through it. This is the first year we will have to use 3 different modes of control to make sure everything runs smoothly. The first mode is "always on", being that the power is not switched off after the display is used for the night. This will include the inflatable motors and a few other things. The second mode is controlled by rotary timing units. Our light show schedule is from 6 PM to 10 Pm so some things like signs and background lighting will be turned off and on at those times. Thirdly, Blitzen the Christmas Computer will run the main show according to his programming. Using the 3 modes will greatly improve the control of the power usage and keep problems like turning things off and on to a minimum.

Also, when a number of controllers and elements are on the same GFI and the power gets shut off due to a problem like water intrusion, that branch of the system will all go off at the same time. The more GFIs you have, the more you can keep the rest of it working during that shutdown. Our springtime project is the GFI Branch Stake. An extension cord is ran out to the general area of where the branch will be and the GFI Branch Stake is plugged into it. Power needed for controllers or other light elements will be plugged into the Stake. Items plugged into the Stake will be protected and only those items on that particular GFI will be shut down in the event of a problem with the remaining others staying on. This project will protect 2 branch lines and is also plugged into a primary GFI for double protection. Check out our Projects Page for some pics.

This is a test! This is only a test.

Each year as you do your Christmas display, there is wear and tear, accidents, weather problems, water intrusion, vandalism, upgrades and other types of happenings that take a toll on your equipment. Its best that during the non-Christmas season that some testing is done on your hardware and other components to be sure of reliable operation. Check out each item in a thorough manner. Starting at the source is a good place to start. Run a series of test sequences if needed. The storm that hit us just before the judging of the contest created a lot of problems so I did some testing to see what was needing to be corrected. Here is a status report on our system.

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Computer: OK
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Grinch 1: OK
===========
Grinch 2: OK
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SSRs:

SSR - Channels - Status
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A1 - CH 1-4 - OK
B1 - CH 5-8 - OK
C1 - CH 9-12 - OK
D1 - CH 13-16 - OK
E1 - CH 17-20 - OK
F1 - CH 21-24 - OK
G1 - CH 25-28 - channel 3 not working - other channels ok
H1 - CH 29-32 - OK
I1 - CH 33-36 - OK
J1 - CH 37-40 - not finished - near complete
K1 - CH 41-44 - OK
L1 - CH 45-48 - OK
M1 - CH 49-52 - short in channel 1  stays on - other channels ok
N1 - CH 53-56 - OK
O1 - CH 57-60 - missing
P1 - CH 61-64 - OK
A2 - CH 65-68 - OK
B2 - CH 69-72 - subchannel 2 not working - other channels ok
C2 - CH 73-76 - OK
D2 - CH 77-80 - OK
E2 - CH 81-84 - not finished - need parts
F2 - CH 85-88 - not finished - near complete
G2 - CH 89-92 - OK
H2 - CH 93-96 - not finished - need parts
I2 - CH 97-100 - not finished - need parts
J2 - CH 101-104 - not finished - need parts
K2 - CH 105-108 - not finished - need parts
L2 - CH 109-112 - short in channel 3  stays on - other channels ok
M2 - CH 113-116 - not finished - need parts
N2 - CH 117-120 - not finished - need parts
O2 - CH 121-124 - not finished - need parts
P2 - CH 125-128 - not finished - need parts
===========

As you can see, one of our controllers is missing in action. We are not quite sure what happened to it or if it is lost in the garage someplace. Having a list of your equipment will help in such cases. Testing now will save on the headaches later!

Epic fail or For The Win!

Epic Fail!

In the pouring rain, the Light Suit fails due to a malfunctioning button on the power unit. Poor Penny the Dachshund, shivering in the cold. Just minutes before the parade is to start, the wife leaps into action! Go Sandy Go!

For the Win!

After digging all the equipment out of the backpack, it is reassembled and put back into action just before the start of the parade! Interested people in the parade also are checking out the test before leaving on the 1.1 mile parade route. Talk about the proverbial Nick in time!

Another Helping Please!

Bear with us!

Having won 3rd place in the Willamina Lighted Christmas Parade and then winning 3rd place (again) in the Light 'Em Up! home contest, we used the prize money, totaling $35, to buy more food for the food-bank. As you know, money doesn't go as far as it used to, so we added a little bit more. Two large bags were donated into our red donation box and the balance of the food from the purchase are shown in front of our new inflatable polar bear (Thanks again Penny!). A total weight of 62 pounds was donated to the Sherimina Food-bank. TimberTownChristmas is still determined in its cause to get more food donated to the needs of our community. Technical problems, bad weather, procrastination or any other problems will not slow us down. We ask that you help us to help others.

Inside the Sherimina Food-bank, the food we collected is getting checked and received.  As a last minute donation our Daughter in Law gave us some baby food to add in as well.  Thank You Jessica!! 

In the top 3

Its official! We've taken 3rd place in the Light 'em Up contest! The town of Willamina holds an annual house Christmas lights competition and for the 2nd year in a row, we got third place. Our prize was $15, given by the Willamina Coastal Hills Chamber of Commerce. We at TimberTownChristmas would like to thank them for picking us as one of thier top 3 winners. Any monetary winnings are put to good use by purchasing additional food for the food-bank. Next year, we will try extra hard to get a 2nd or 1st place by creating a new, more elaborate display. Watch out for us!

 We invite you all to visit our town!
http://www.willaminachamberofcommerce.org/

Merry Christmas to One and All!

Christmas Luck!

Despite severe storm damage to our show, the impossible has happened. We were told we had won a prize in the Home Illumination Contest. We're still not sure if it's 2nd or 3rd place but in anticipation of whatever amount of the prize was, we went shopping. Every year since we started, TimberTownChristmas has collected canned food for our local food-bank. In addition to food received from friends, family and the public, we also donate any prize money we get in the form of food. We shop around for the best deal to get as much food as we can. Sometimes, you get a chance at a good deal so its best not to pass it up even if it means adding a bit of money from your own pocket. 

As we were shopping, we started talking to a woman that was working in the store. She also was hit by the storm and told us about how her inflatables got damaged. I told her I would take them if she no longer wanted them and she said yes! At the very least, they would make for spare parts for my show and so we went to get them. After a short drive to her house, we picked the remains of the inflatables up out of her yard. A soggy mess it was, but into the car's trunk it went. Upon getting home and doing some checking for holes, we knew we could repair them. First one fixed was the polar bear!

(picture from the Net)

However, the other inflatable being an 8 foot Carousel needed a bit more TLC. It was found to have a 3 foot long tear along the topside next to the clear plastic window. It too can be repaired but not as fast.

(picture from the Net)

We at TimberTownChristmas would like to thank Penny and her husband for giving us these wonderful additions to our Christmas Show.  The inflatables will definitely help us to promote our cause.