Let there be lights - Display stretches across three yards
<p>A child slows as he walks past Dan Hodge's Christmas lights on his way to the bus stop on Thursday morning, December 18, west of Kalispell. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Detail of a light bulb in Dan Hodge's Christmas lights on Thursday, December 18, west of Kalispell. Most of the bulbs have been replaced with LED lights. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Dan Hodge with his Christmas lights in the early hours of Thursday, December 18, west of Kalispell. Hodge grew up in Butte and remembers going on Christmas light tours with his family. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>A helicopter seems to hover above the words Merry Christmas in Dan Hodge's Christmas lights display on Thursday, December 18, west of Kalispell. The rotating effect of the blades was created using sequencing lights. Hodge was a helicopter pilot serving in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>A nativity scene by Dan Hodge on Thursday, December 18, west of Kalispell. All of the pieces and figures in Hodge's display are things he has made himself. Over the years his display has spread, with the consent of his neighbors, into the the two yards that flank his. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
Dan Hodge has more than 40 years of experience stringing up Christmas lights and setting up elaborate displays for the delight of people who drive by 7 Konley Drive west of Kalispell.
As darkness fell Dec. 17, Hodge “threw the switch” and thousands of bright Christmas lights turned on, illuminating his house and lawn. Christmas music also came on and lights, synchronized to the music, began to dance on six multicolored trees.
Hodge, 70, spent two weeks installing this year’s display. Before putting any stakes in the ground, Hodge maps out his water pipes with ropes to avoid any accidental damage.
“My goal is always to have everything up two weeks up before Christmas,” Hodge said.
There are elves, toy soldiers, snowmen, reindeer, nativity and snowy village scenes and, of course, Santa. A candy cane, Christmas stocking and other festive Christmas favorites round out the display.
“Everything that I have here is homemade. The huge stocking, I made that 20 to 25 years ago out of little pieces of wood. I saw this in a coloring book and scaled it up made it big,” Hodge said, pointing to a skating penguin.
What began as a modest set of Christmas lights around the eaves of the house where he and his wife, Pat, moved in 1976 has grown bigger each year.
During the holiday season, Hodge would come home from Flathead High School where he taught and, instead of turning on the TV he would start putting up Christmas lights or construct new characters from plywood.
Hodge said there isn’t a particular theme for the display.
Sometimes he draws from personal experiences. One of the highlights of his display is a helicopter hovering above the fence, its rotor blades seemingly turning in a circular motion.
“I was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam — that’s the reason I made that,” Hodge said.
Hodge created the illusion of movement by separating the four strands that make up a single strand of chasing lights and alternating them on the static rotor blades.
He isn’t afraid to go outside the box of traditional Christmas characters. If you know what the fabled Flathead Lake monster looks like, you just might spot the green serpent wearing a Santa hat and taking a dip in a pool of white lights.
The extent of Hodge’s Christmas display isn’t limited to his house and lawn but extends to his neighbor’s lawns.
Next to a set of elves playing basketball in Hodge’s driveway is a nativity scene and cross that actually are in his neighbor’s yard. In his other neighbor’s yard, he has decorated a tree and used part of the fence to write “Merry Christmas” using lights.
“When we first moved in there was an older couple and they wanted to have Christmas lights, but they couldn’t do it so I said, ‘I’ll do it for you,’” Hodge said.
As neighbors moved in and out, Hodge continued to ask if he could use their lawns for his large display.
“It’s nice they let me do it,” Hodge said.
While he doesn’t have an exact number of light strands used in his display, he did note that one mountain ash tree had 2,195 lights on it. Hodge also started to swap out the lights for brighter LEDs.
When asked if their electric bill goes up during the holidays, Pat Hodge said yes.
“But for us, if it makes other people happy, we can afford it,” she said.
When the lights come on the pair sometimes sit in their kitchen and look out the window to watch other people enjoy them.
As a child growing up in Butte, Hodge remembered the drives his parents took to look at light decorations.
“There were six of us. That’s one of the things we did every year. We’d take our Christmas light drive. I remember when I was young going by Evel Knievel’s house. His was one of the most highly decorated houses.”
“It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun,” Hodge said with a big smile.
The Christmas lights will be on display through Jan. 1.
To get to Konley Drive, take Meridian Road to Two Mile Drive. Drive west for approximately 1.2 miles, then turn right. On the way back, be sure to drive around West View Drive and Greenbriar Drive to see other festive Christmas light displays in the neighborhood.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.