AUBURN – You still can’t park and watch – you have to keep driving by slowly.
But if you go you may notice that the Christmas lights show on Vista Drive has grown, Jamie Loggins said Friday.
Two more songs have been added to five that play while a dazzling light show seems to move and dance. The music comes from turning the car radio to 88.1 FM from a radio transmitter the homeowner built.
Loggins is the Christmas-loving Central Maine Medical Center surgeon who created the show with help from his wife, Karen, his mother and father.
The new songs are “Wizards of Winter” by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” tune by dogs barking and a few cats meowing. “It’s fun. It’s not hard to listen to,” Loggins said.
The Loggins have no children, but they have three dogs: Tucker, Bailey and Mitzie. Both husband and wife are dog lovers, and have volunteered to the U.S. Humane Society. During Hurricane Katrina, Karen Loggins, who works as a veterinarian technician, went to the New Orleans area and helped rescue dogs, Loggins said.
To add new music takes Loggins hours. For each minute of song it takes four hours for Loggins to compose. He programs the 100,000 lights to change, flash on and off to the beat of music. The lights work off 256 individual plugs.
The show also features a few new voices that greet motorists, a 10-second “interview” of Santa, and a reminder if traffic is heavy, people cannot park, they must drive by slowly.
On Dec. 11 the family turned off the lights for one night after rude motorists yelled, and one man threatened to run over Jamie’s mother, while family members tried to direct traffic. Since then, things on Vista Drive have been better, Loggins said Friday. But there still are “a few,” he said.
“Every once in a while we get someone who parks in the middle of the road” which causes traffic problems. On Thursday night, Loggins had to personally knock on windows and tell drivers they can’t stop. One man started arguing with him.
“He said, ‘I’m not parked.’ I told him, ‘you’ve been there for five minutes and traffic’s backing up.'”
A few become rude when asked to move by someone “in civilian clothes,” Loggins said. That doesn’t happen “when a police officer is out there,” he said. Vehicles keep moving.
Despite the problems, Loggins said he’s glad he built the show. The majority of visitors have been good. “We’ve gotten some very nice comments on our Web site (www.auburnlights.com). The show has received press coverage as far as Paris and Holland. But better to Loggins, he said, it’s brought out Christmas smiles and poignant moments.
He received one card from a disabled vet who delighted his ailing mother when he brought her to the show. The Loggins have received many cards from strangers thanking them, many are from children and families.
“Some of the heart-warming stories from people writing in, that’s what makes you do it,” Loggins said.
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