Nanty Glo light show turns heads

BY JULIE BENAMATI
The Tribune-Democrat

NANTY GLO— Little by little, Brad and Pam Cooper have been adding to their popular holiday light display at their Roberts Street home.
For nine years, the Coopers have strung lights to anything sturdy and standing.
But now, with just a little less than 20,000 lights, blow-up decorations and a Santa Claus flying through their front yard in his sleigh, the Coopers are running out of room.
This year, they have expanded to their neighbor’s yard.
“It’s gotten bigger every year,” Brad Cooper, 37, said of his annual project, which usually takes about 50 hours to set up. “It gives me something to do, and the neighbors enjoy it.”
A corrections officer at the federal prison in Loretto, Cooper said he works on the display before Thanksgiving on his days off.
“I do it by myself,” he said. “I guess I’m a sucker.”
His wife, a secretarial aide in the Blacklick Valley School District, said that, while her husband does most of the work, they both enjoy spreading Christmas cheer.
“We do it for the families and the neighbors,” Pam Cooper said.
This year, the couple added a Merry Christmas sign and a giant snow globe.
“It’s getting tough to add anything,” Brad Cooper said. “It’s to the point where it’s almost to the max, because we don’t have much of a front (yard) to begin with. That’s why we’ve expanded to our neighbor’s yard.”
He said he has added electrical outlets to the outside of his home through the years.
“I’ve actually added breakers just for the lights,” he added. “I’ve also been known to blow a few breakers over the years.”
The Coopers say their electric bill only goes up about $25 to $30 as a result of their artistry. They leave the display up through Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7, then take it down as soon as weather permits.
The decorations are taken to the attic and basement for storage until next year.
“Everyone always asks if we’re going to do it again,” Pam Cooper said. “And we do. It brings cheer to everybody.”

Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.