By Nora Heston Tarte
Growing up in Southern California, Mike Perry says his dad always created over-the-top light displays at their family home. When he passed away, however, Mike took it upon himself to continue the family tradition. So at nine years old, about a month after his father died, he was up on his roof, stringing lights.
Now Mike goes all out at his Stockton home at 3909 Estate Drive, complete with wooden lawn adornments and inflatables.
In 1992, Mike started with approximately 3,500 lights and doubled the number until finally settling on 30,000. He admits to expanding to 70,000 lights one year, but his wife quickly put the brakes on that after getting a glimpse of the power bill.
Otherwise, Mike’s wife, Valerie, is supportive of his decoration dreams. In fact, many of the additions they have added over the years have been her idea, and she paints the wooden cutouts that Perry makes, including six-foot tall matching Mr. and Mrs. Claus, a gingerbread house, a Ferris wheel, and more.
The centerpiece to this holiday light extravaganza, however, is the oak tree in the front yard that Mike and his nephew cover in lights to create a glow that can be seen from 60 feet away.
“The tree is kind of the one point that everyone has always asked about over the years,” Mike shares. “It’s kind of like the centerpiece of all of it.”
Mike admits he doesn’t know how many people pass by his home during the holidays, but his joy comes from those people who view it.
“It’s the faces on the little kids that I enjoy watching,” he says.
See it for Yourself:
3909 Estate Dr., Stockton 95209