Christmas light display
BOISE -- A Boise man could be referred to as our very own Clark Griswold.
However, Dave Lamarque's massive Christmas display is much more organized, his power source is more reliable, and the light show is much more impressive.
"This is our 20th year," said Lamarque.
The Lamarque family lives at 4379 W. Quail Point Court in Boise near Hill Road and Collister Drive.
His first decoration was a plastic nativity scene.
"We try to add to the nativity every year, but you can only add so much because we are trying to be realistic," said Lamarque.
Over the years his creation has grown to include animated and moving displays. A crew of two starts in October and works full time for six weeks stringing the lights.
So how many does he hang?
"About half a million," said Lamarque. "It's a lot of lights."
There are so many lights that an electrical engineer had to add more power to his home's electrical system.
"My December electric bill is around $1,500," admitted Lamarque.
Compare that to a normal monthly utility bill of around $50 and some people might think that's a big waste of money.
"You could say that, but you would not believe the enjoyment, most nights, the driveway will be full of people, kids dancing, and old couples walking hand and hand singing," said Lamarque. "You know it brings a lot of joy to our lives to see the way people appreciate it."
Lamarque took us inside to see even more Christmas cheer, decorations the public isn't privy to see.
The outside is Lamarque's responsibility, while the inside belongs to his wife.
The decorations are more traditional. A giant Christmas tree, Santas throughout the house, and a miniature Christmas village, that requires multiple tables to hold it.
"We started off with one table and then another table, and now we have six tables," said Lamarque.
Dave's display goes all around his home, to a angel on the hillside. At 85-feet tall and 65-feet wide the giant angel can be seen from an airplane.
So you may be wondering why Lamarque goes to such extremes?
"We love Christmas, we love Boise, Boise has been very good to us and this is our little way of giving our Christmas present back to Boise every year," said Lamarque.
