Covington woman puts on shows from patriotic to spooky to Christmas wonderland
Published 4:39 pm Tuesday, November 15, 2011
At first glance Gena Laws would seem she’s been inspired by fictional Christmas movie characters such as Clark Griswold and Kevin McCallister.
In “Christmas Vacation,” Griswold had 25,000 Christmas lights on his house. Laws plans to have 45,000 for her Christmas show.
In “Home Alone,” Kevin draws up a detailed layout of his house with colored markers. Laws has a stack of plans for her Christmas show which goes back years and is based on the home’s original drawings.
For 10 years, Laws’ home near Crest Airpark south of Covington has been a local attraction for shows celebrating the Fourth of July, Halloween and Christmas. Starting out with regular lights and simple props, she now uses electrical equipment, synchronization, song writing software and home-crafted props to create her shows, which has brought not only local, but national attention.
Recently, msn.com named her home among the top 10 great home haunts after finding videos of her display on Rocky Mountain Haunted Group, of which Laws is a member.
“This reporter had contacted our group and saw my video and asked me to contact them,” she said. “The next thing I know they had me on the top 10.”
HAUNTING AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Laws has been decorating for the holidays for as long as she can remember. Growing up in Nevada, Halloween at the time fell on Nevada Day, which was a state holiday.
“We were always out trick or treating,” she said. “School was off, so there were parades and all kinds of things. It was just a really fun time.”
She first began setting up house displays during the holidays a decade ago. At first, it was simple and basic, like most ordinary homes. As each year passed, however, she and family kept looking for new ways to expand and build upon what they had already done.
The big leap came when Laws attended a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, which synchronized the music and lights. She also learned about various software programs which would allow her to write her own songs.
“That was infectious,” she recalled.
The equipment was by no means cheap. Laws said she had to save up for three years before she could purchase it. First, she bought prepackaged Christmas music which had the lights synchronized.
“That was getting me closer,” she said.
Yet, she wanted to create her own light pattern and songs.
Now she uses a combination of Light-o-rama software, Wow Lights Production and Wild Lights, the preplanning and preparation of which makes it resemble a small movie production.
For the Light-o-rama software, for example, Laws has to create a specific name for each channel of lights. For her Halloween display, there were seven boxes containing 112 channels. Then, she must enter in what she wants each light to do for each second for every song.
On average, it takes her six to 10 hours to program a two minute song, and that’s if she doesn’t have to write the song. For Halloween, she wrote 13 original songs, a task which consumes even more time.
“You count that up, that’s a lot of hours,” she said.
Ironically, Laws described herself as “computer illiterate.”
“In the beginning I was so overwhelmed,” she said. “I would be on the phone at 10 p.m. … on Sunday.”
Due to the time required, preplanning begins months in advance, February for the Fourth of July, March for Halloween. Another reason for the early planning is the result of a new theme each year.
The hours add up. The Halloween show required 260 hours of preparation, 50 hours for setup, most of which is done by Laws and a handful of other people.
“I have some really great friends and family, but it’s pretty much here in this household,” she said.
HOW TO BE A REAL-LIFE CLARK GRISWOLD
To avoid burdensome costs, Laws said she and her family rely on donations, garage sales and their own ingenuity to create their props. For example, Woody, the spooky-looking tree featured in this year’s Halloween display, was built using real bark and roots from a tree their neighbor had cut down. After building a wooden skeleton, the Laws nailed the bark to the exterior and added the roots. The result was a favorite among their visitors.
For their hearse, they used CV piping and coated it to resemble wood. The interior of a coffin had velvet cushioning from a garage sale.
But a large percentage of their props are built by Laws’ husband, Robert. In addition to the coffin and hearts for Halloween, he also built a cannon for the Fourth of July.
“You can find ways to build things cheap,” Laws said. “I show him (Robert) something and ask, ‘Can you build this?’ and he says, ‘Sure.’”
For their Halloween show, Laws said, they initially had a very lighthearted ambiance.
“It was all the cute stuff,” she said. “We had smiling pumpkins and things like that.”
Gradually, however they have shifted to a more portentous exhibition, including impaled skeletons, vampires, gravestones, the headless horseman from Sleepy Hollow and Mary Beth, an eerie little girl in a white dress with a teddy bear who inexplicably moves around the front yard.
“You have to get your trick before you get your treat,” Laws said.
Yet, like many Halloween attractions, Laws explained their props are meant to scare the living daylights out of people, not offend them with grisly images.
“We don’t do gore and blood and guts,” she said. “You can do scary and spooky without gore.”
KEEPING IT UNDER WRAPS
Laws said she tends to be guarded about the exact details of her upcoming shows so the surprise is not ruined.
“We try to keep it secret,” she said.
She did reveal, however, several facts about this year’s Christmas show. The theme will be “The Presence of Christmas” and will include a 13 foot tree in addition to a mega-tree with 64 lights.
Unlike Clark Griswold, however, they don’t have to worry about falling down any ladders. After her husband had spinal surgery earlier this year, they were forced to find another way of putting lights up on their house and on the trees. Through a friend who runs Kent Truck and Equipment, they are now able to borrow one of their old bucket trucks to put up and take down lights.
“It makes things easy,” Laws said. “But it’s been a godsend with the safety.”
Safety first, Laws said, is their first motto. The second is think of others, specifically her neighbors. Laws said she has maintained a relatively good relationship due to an open door policy when it comes to complaints. Thus far, however, she hasn’t received any negative feedback.
“On the flip side, I hear them say ‘We love your house, we love what you do and I can’t wait to bring my grandkids,’” she said.
Laws said they go out of their to make sure their neighbors are not disturbed when the shows are put on. After 9:30 p.m., for example, the music for the lights are turned off outside and switched to a radio transmitter which people can then hear in their cars by tuning into a specific radio frequency.
Laws said one of the most frequently asked questions she gets about her show concerns the cost of her electric bill as the result of having so many lights up.
“People think it’s really expensive,” she said. “But the truth is it’s not that expensive. Your lights aren’t on all of the time.”
She also uses LED lights, which consume less amperage than incandescent lightbulbs. On average, she said it costs them an extra $60-100 a month.
AND IT’S FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Aside from being a neighborhood attraction during the holidays, Law also uses her shows as a philanthropic opportunity to collect food for local food banks. During the shows, they have a toter and sign by their house for food donations, which has been a success.
Last year they were able to donate 1,000 pounds to the Black Diamond Senior Center and Food Bank.
So far this year, they have raised 650 pounds, and expect as much during the Christmas season.
“It’s like icing on the cake,” Laws said. “I really felt like it was such a great place to donate food.”
Although she said the display “comes with a lot of sore backs,” in the end the appreciation she receives from the community is worth it.
“It’s a lasting memory,” she said. “It’s a time you can come up with your family and be a kid again. (I get) a lot of thanks. They say ‘You’re our tradition.’”
Laws house is located at 30211 176th Ave. S.E., Covington. The Christmas show debuts on Nov. 25 and will run from dusk until 11:30 p.m. through Jan. 7. The Black Diamond Fire Department will be at the show on Dec. 11.
Videos of her show can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNfS33LQMZE&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySZDsNKEwws.
