Christmas Spectacular on Main Street SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!

[iamawino]

Save the date!

Wednesday December the 7th. at 7:00 pm 2011 Grammy Nominated Singer Judy Pancoast (www.judypancoast.com) will be coming to our house to preform a live Christmas Show! This will be a FREE show to benefit the local food banks! Judy will be preforming songs off her new Christmas album PLUS she has written a Special Version of her world famous Song "House on Christmas Street" just for us! Join us for the show, Hot Chocolate and cookies!

Information below on our regular start date!

We would like to invite all to our Christmas Spectacular on Main Street starting Friday December the 2nd. The address is 128 North Main Street Cranbury NJ 08512.

Our shows will run on the hour starting at 6pm and the last at 9pm. Each show runs approximately 40 minutes with all the lights on after each show.

Our show this year is made up of over 52,000 lights, we have added another 160 channels of music to make a total of 320 for 2012! We have 20,000 feet of extension cords and 14 songs ranging from the traditional to the "whimsical" Christmas songs for the kids. NEW THIS YEAR, my own design 10,000 "Shooting Fountain of Light!" and our Mega Tree will have 4800 more lights this year making it twice as big as last year! Back again this year my own own design 20 foot by 20 foot wall of snow flakes with 6,400 lights,

PLEASE HELP others this Holiday season.

A lot of work goes into this display to bring joy to 1000's of people. For those who are able, Please help us help others who do not have what many of us are blessed to have. We realize there are many great charities to support, especially during the holidays, but food is such a basic necessity and there are far too many people, kids in particularly that just do not have enough. My family, Marina, Alexander and Kristopher are blessed to be able to bring this display to you but we ask kindly for your generosity to help those who need help. The next time you are at the grocery store, PLEASE get an extra $5.00, $10.00, $20.00 or more worth of food and please donate it to this worthy cause. Besides the hope of giving much needed Joy to those in the area we have again partnered up with the Princeton Alliance Church in Plainsboro this year to collect Non-Perishable food for those who may need help throughout the holiday. There will be collection bins located at the front of our property. For those who can help it would be greatly appreciated by many.

FAQ'S and Etiquette

Display Etiquette

We are happy to have you as a guest to view our display. As we and our neighbors have to live here all season (and not just visit it once or twice), we are asking you to help us out by abiding by the following -- and please pass this information on to anyone you might refer our display to:

Please do not block the street, or any driveways.

Please keep all litter in your vehicle

Please do not use driveways to turn around.

If you'd like to stay and watch the show for awhile, that's great. Just make sure you pull off the road. If you have a particularly noisy vehicle, it would really help us keep neighborhood peace if you didn't idle it for long periods of time. If you can shut it off for awhile, that would make our neighbors happy.

Similarly, please avoid honking horns (whether to show appreciation, or other reasons). If you'd like to leave us feedback we'd love to hear from you at theplanet@planetofwine.com

FAQ?s

How do you control the lights?

Everything is controlled with software and hardware from Light-O-Rama. For 2010 we have added another 64 channels for our Snowflake Wall bringing our total Music Channels to 320! For 2010 we had 160, for 2009 we were using 96 channels of music, our 20 foot tree uses 96 just for that. Our display for 2007 used 36 different channels, 2008 was 48. This allows us to control almost every element in our display between Red, White, Green and blue. The stars you see on the right side of the property take up 14 channels just for them. Because of how the display has to be set up, we use 20,000' of extension cords, yes almost 4 miles!!

How many lights do you have?

There were about 10,000 lights for 2007 for 2008 we had around 15,000 for 2009 we have over 25,000 and this year for 2010 we had around 35,000 for 2012 we have 52,000!

How much power does it take? How much is your electric bill?

90% of our lights are LED which provides a much brighter display while at the same time conserving energy.

Most of the time only 30% of the display is on because it is animated which helps conserve power. A lot of smaller displays actually use more power than mine, because they are always "ON". The power bill for 2008 was only about $90 more than normal.

Do you have your own Radio Station? How are you transmitting to my radio?

We use a small FM transmitter the broadcasts on 89.9 FM. It only goes a short distance which allows people to listen to the music within sight of our display.

How much time does it take?

We start our Christmas light display on November the 1st. This year I hire four people to help me put up the lights on the roof. The front of the house and the yard I do myself with the help of friends.

For the 2011 season I spent about 100 hours or so designing the display which most is spent in programming the lights to the music.

How much did this cost?

???

Good question, but you can?t put a price on the amount of joy our light display brings.

What do you do for a living, are you an electrician or in the theatrical business?

No, I am a Wine Consultant. I am also the founder of www.planetofwine.com I started this November 2007 with zero knowledge of how to do a display like this. I read a lot on the internet, and had a lot of trial and error but within 30 days had 10 songs up and running!
[u]

[nhabitant of Cranbury]

Another great event from Keith, amaizing!

[shadow]

Keith, saw you working on that tree last night it looked amazing! Seems to be much bigger than last year?

[iamawino]

Yes it is almost twice as big as last year we almost doubled the amount of lights and did over twice the amount of channels! It is all tested and ready to go! You can take a look at the preview videos on http://cranburychristmaslights.com Don't forget about our event on December the 7th at 7:00 pm, 2011 Grammy nominated singer Judy Pancoast will be doing a live Christmas show at our house! Bring the family and friends, this is for a great cause

[inhabitant of Cranbury]

Saw the show last night, WOW the kids LOVED it. Thank you for doing this! (Ps we left the big box of food).

[In the Chirstmas Spirit]

Keith, is the show rain or shine?

[iamawino]

Yes we are rain or Shine, So much work has gone into this even lets pray for Shine!!!!!

[Dan Mulligan]

Video from NJ.com of the Spectacular...
http://video-embed.nj.com/services/player/bcpid619329502001?bctid=1313436716001


And the article on NJ.com

CRANBURY — For the past five years, Keith Shaw has unraveled thousands of feet of lights and extension cords each year to create a holiday spectacle at his home on North Main Street. Tonight’s display will add sound to the display of lights — a performance by Grammy nominee and internationally renowned singer-songwriter Judy Pancoast.
Her hit, “The House on Christmas Street,” written in 1998, is an ode to homeowners like Shaw who bring out the “oohs” and “ahs” of visitors each Christmas. For no charge, Pancoast travels across the country to perform the song at homes that are extravagantly decorated.

More...
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/12/cranbury_holiday_display_adds.html

[ConserveCranbury]

To me, this is the ultimate in gaud and waste. Cranbury is a town known for it historic preservation and bringing people back in time.

The lights are an eccentric extravaganza in a town that prides itself on simple beauty. Many find the display ghastly. A display that says, “I have more than you.” is what is important, not the fact that Jesus and quiet giving is considered charitable. There are food drives run by legitimate organizations in town that would never ask for cash donations.

The fact is there are many noteworthy events in town that need front-page recognition; it appears that promoting yourself or business is the main cause. For the past several years, people have wondered where does the food go? Where does the money go? Now at least there is a sign stating something more than: “Local Food Bank.” The papers do have listed a local church.

Many, remember clearly, several years ago when the Cranbury Wine Tour turned into a personal advertisement for the local wine store and a “Toot Your Own Horn”, entrepreneur. People were pressured into buying today and time spent listening to the town’s history was rudely thrown to the side buy the talk of buying wine. Again, “Me first!” not the town or the cause.

I find it appalling that on Halloween our tax dollars went to man the street in front of the house because the fog machine caused a road hazard for a 1/2 mile stretch on main street making it dangerous for pedestrians and motorist alike. Again, “Me first!”

The marketing skills are commendable, many assume that business is the real push behind the scenes, but tax write-offs should not be done at the expense of my tax dollars. I would love to see the books kept on this…probably as well kept at the Cranbury Swim Clubs.

Remember, do not honk your horn while looking at the display, "Tooting Your Own Horn", is not in style in Cranbury."

Is this display really about the Holiday Spirit or about selling spirits?

[guest13]

I have a strong suspicion this is a fake post from a TROLL designed only to elicit outraged responses while the idiot sits back and laughs that he/she got a reaction. Even the name is designed to be confusingly similar to Dan Mulligan's old "Cranbury Conservative" alias, when it clearly is not Dan's opinion. So I won’t bother feeding the TROLL with pointed responses that give too much credit to the post. Obviously it doesn’t reflect what real residents of this Township feel. Some losers have too much time on their hands.

[Cranburian]

Guest is obvously one of the losers to which he/she is referencing. (Name calling is the last resort when there is there is no reasonable response to the post.
Poster Conservative Cranbury hits the nail on the head. The gaudy display is certainly not Cranbury.

[Todd&Margo]

[please]

[I was there were you]

I find it liable that you would make “soft” accusations of where the donations go, it is no wonder why you post anonymously. We were at the Shaws event they did with Judy Pancoast on Wednesday so this comes first hand. The press was also there so these facts can be checked up on. The director of the Church Ministry spoke at the event and explained where 100% of all donations (food and cash) go. She explained how the Princeton Alliance Food Bank distributes the food and we were also told that 100% of everything goes to the needy. There is zero overhead to the church or staff. Are you saying that the Princeton Alliance Church is not a “legitimate” organization? Knowing that 100% of my donations are going where it is needed is very comforting.


I would also like to comment on your issue of Cranbury being a town of “historic preservation and bringing people back in time” I think with that statement you are correct. You did take us back in time but to a bad time. Are you serious???? Are you dictating/suggesting what someone can do with their property or own money or what not to do with it simply because of the town it is in? I would say with your comment of many finding this display “ghastly”. We take our kids to see the display quite often and I can tell you we have seen many Cranbury families there also on a regular basis. I have also talked to many of the other mothers about this and have not talked to a single one who had anything bad to say they also enjoy taking their kids there. So to this I say there is always going to people like you who complain (oh again anonymously since you don’t have the courage to say who you are.)


Lastly I do not know the Shaws personally but do attend many of their events with my family and from hearing him speak of why he does what he does I believe him to be very much in the right place.

Mr. Shaw, keep doing it don’t let people like this get you down, there is always someone in the world who tries to bring other to their low level.

[another guest]

[iamawino]

I will not respond to an anonymous poster but I would like to address some of your points directly with you. I am providing my phone number; 609-636-6870. If you have the courage to call me I can provide you the answers you are looking for.

I will provide some key points about me and why giving back is so important to me. As a Christian I truly feel blessed for all that has been given to me and in my heart I feel for those who are in need. We live in an area that has so much to give to those who are in need. Maybe this poster does not realize that most food to food banks goes to kids and within 5 miles of Cranbury there are kids who go to bed EVERY night hungry. As a father of two boys I cannot imagine what it would be like if my boys had to go to bed hungry. It makes me sad just with the thought. If I can change this even in a very smallest of a way by working hard to bring people to see a Christmas Display while at the same time giving joy to 1000’s well…

My parents raised me to help others that needed help, all my life I have been involved with different charity organizations. For many years I was the chairman for the NJ State Fellowship of Christian Athletes Annual Golf Outing. If it was not for me giving to those in need with that organization I would never have meet my wife which then lead to my two children Alexander and Kristopher. I was at the Baltusrol Golf Club one Saturday afternoon having a meeting for the outing and then went to lunch at a restaurant nearby and this is where I meet Marina!

Ok, I will admit we do receive a huge benefit from what we do. We go to bed every night knowing that in some small way we have tried to make a difference to those who are not as fortunate. I get to spend many hours with my boys working on our displays and at the age of 6 Alexander already knows how important it is to help others. I would also like to say at the age of 6 He knows what this Display is all about, just ask him!

100% of every donation goes to Charity and 100% of everything goes to those who need it. There is no overhead from either the Church or the staff. We do not get any tax break from what we do, we do not sell anything. We simply want to make a difference.

My most important point. I am grateful to my friends who are my neighbors here in Cranbury for making it possible to help others. For you I am grateful!