Norton's Winter Wonderland

"I spend a lot of time on it along with my wife, daughter, two sons and their wives and even the grandkids—four of them—pitch in to help," Norton says of the five-week process. "Our neighbor up the street with the other display, Keith LaPrath, spends a lot of time helping us with ours. Without his help, we likely would not continue to do it."

"When the display is on, I tell the wife no oven, dishwasher, microwave. Anything that consumes a lot of power is off limits! We tend to eat out a lot during the holidays," Norton says.

He estimates about 10,000 lights are involved in the display, but the animated elements are really what make it special. Visitors might mistake Winter Wonderland for a small-scale amusement park. Norton's display features a rotating Ferris wheel, merry-go-round complete with moving steeds, flying swings, a train and a Santa-in-a-box. The complexity of the newest addition rivals that of an actual theme park ride.

Norton keeps a logbook for visitors to sign as they drive by to seen Winter Wonderland and he estimates that the display draws around 5,000 visitors each year. Having LaPrath's display just six houses down helps draw a larger crowd he says.

Those crowds and the compliments keep Norton in the business of running Winter Wonderland each year.

"We have had a number of comments in our log like 'This is the only Christmas our children will have.' This brings tears to our eyes, that we were able to bring some happiness to families where this display means so much to them. So, as long as we have our health, can afford to run the display and Keith is still available to help us we will continue doing it," he says.

"Our roof remains focused on the true meaning of Christmas, where we feature the Nativity, along with other Christian-oriented lighted objects, and animated angels. We hope that visitors relax and enjoy the animation, but also remember that Christmas is a time of celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ."