'It can never be too big': The work and thought behind 3 big RI family Christmas displays

Their tastes are as different as the patterns of snowflakes, but people who create eye-popping Christmas displays on their homes and lawns seem to have a lot in common. They think about their displays year 'round, they always want to go bigger and they love to see the happy looks of people enjoying their creations.

Here's more detail on three impressive Rhode Island displays and their creators:

'I just love looking at Christmas lights'

What do you buy for the guy who already has 33,000 Christmas lights?

More lights, of course.

Jay Sullivan's passion for Christmas decorations is well known among family and friends, so instead of shirts, socks or barbecue tools, they buy him lights for his birthday and Christmas.

"I tell them I'm a size C9," Sullivan says, describing his favorite bulb size. "You can never have enough."

Christmas lights run across the roof of Sullivan's house at 11 Laudone Drive in the Bradford section of Westerly. Lights wind around the windows, wrap around the fence and stitch across the shed in the backyard. From the top of a flag pole in his front yard, strings of lights spread to the ground in the shape of a Christmas tree. Lights adorn pine trees growing all over his yard.

A green-lighted sign on the front lawn sends "Merry Christmas" wishes to passersby. Nearby, Santa waves from his sleigh. R2-D2, Yoda and other "Star Wars" characters are part of the celebration. So are a pair of pink flamingos under a palm Christmas tree.

"Every year it gets bigger," Sullivan says. "We're always thinking of what we want to do next year. It can never be too big."

"I love it," he says. "I just love looking at Christmas lights."

The decorating takes several weeks, starting in October, so the lights can go on in November. Sullivan climbs on the roof and uses ladders and poles to extend his reach. Decorating is a family affair for Sullivan, who gets help from his wife, Robin, his grown children, Brittaney Sullivan and Brandon Mitchell, as well as Brandon's wife, Chelsea, sister-in-law Laurie Mitchell, cousin Paul Cornelius and his wife, Amy, and nephew Ricky Hewins.

"I couldn't do it without them," says Sullivan, who turned 52 just before Christmas and works at Toray Plastics in North Kingstown.

Two special helpers are his grandchildren, Gabby, 8, and Izzy, 6. "It makes it so much more fun having your grandchildren helping you," he says. "I'm hoping someday this will all rub off on them."

To tame the web of electrical cords woven across his yard every November and December, Sullivan dug up the lawn and installed underground electrical connections. He says, "That's when everyone said I was crazy."

It's worth it. "I take pride in my display," Sullivan says. "There's no greater satisfaction than seeing car after car coming by. We hope we can bring people some joy."

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'He's exactly like Clark Griswold'

The Giroux family's Christmas miracle is a tall flagpole that morphs into a Christmas tree every season in front of their house at 69 Outlook Ave., East Providence.

"Every year I'm like, 'How did we do that?,'" Marsha Giroux says. "It's taller than the house."

To reach the top of the pole, which is about 37 feet up, Giroux's engineer husband, Brian, uses "a system of lifts" while Marsha works the ground to secure the lights along the lawn. It takes them about 20 hours.

Brian is the "mastermind," according to his wife. He synchronizes the flashing lights with music – viewers can tune their radios to 91.7 FM – and does the planning.

"He's exactly like Clark Griswold," Marsha says. "He gets really into it. He talks about it all year long."

Unlike Griswold, who worked solo on his masterpiece in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," Brian gets a lot of help from Marsha and their four children, Harrison, 13, Sophie, 12, Jude, 9, and Flynn, 7.

"My kids and I do a lot of the grunt work, but the big production is really his vision," says Marsha, a substitute teacher.

Brian and Marsha, both 39, started the display 16 years ago, before the kids came along, and, like their family, the show has grown over time. The family starts putting up the lights in early November. It replaces their Halloween display, which drew 600 trick-or-treaters this year.

One tree alone has 45 sets of lights. A switch to LED lights has saved them about $130 on their monthly electric bill, which runs about $120 in December – a lot less, Marsha says, than running air conditioners in August.

On weekend nights hundreds of cars drive by their house. Sometimes they travel in buses, which can have trouble turning around on their dead-end street. The neighbors don't seem to mind the action.

"We've been very lucky that two of our neighbors are relatives," Marsha says, "so if they don't like it, they don't complain."

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It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas

Flashing lights and sounds aren't unusual for ambitious lawn Christmas displays, but Anthony and Helen Gemma may have plowed a new trail through the snow with this feature: scent.

The aromas of Christmas trees, hot chocolate and gingerbread houses fill the air between more than 300 inflatable displays spread along the Gemmas' 700-foot driveway at 10 Rod Road in Exeter.

"We pump in scent. I know it sounds crazy," Anthony Gemma says. "We're trying to fully immerse people."

The Gemmas started the drive-through show with about 100 inflatables three years ago to give families a safe way to enjoy the season during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's expanded since then. Kids are given bags of candy. Children from families affected by cancer are given toys. Santa, who suspiciously resembles Anthony Gemma behind the beard, visits on Saturdays.

"It's a massive display," Gemma says. "It's magical. You're driving through the light show, so it's happening all around you."

Lights flash to music, and with 40 different songs, Gemma says repeat visitors won't get bored. "You get a different show every time you come," he says. Drivers are encouraged to roll down their windows to smell the scents of the season. They can tune their radios to 106.1 FM.

The show looks best at night, but visitors can enjoy the inflatables during the day, too. Gemma has noticed busloads of schoolchildren and nursing home residents checking it out during the daytime. "They're so overjoyed," he says. "It's so moving to see them enjoying it."

Like the others in this report, the Gemmas don't charge people to check out their display, but after several people offered donations, the Gemmas decided last year to accept contributions to support the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, which was created after Gemma's mother died of breast cancer.

"My mother loved Christmas," Gemma says. The Gemmas also set up a Halloween display (with a 35-foot tall Jason from the "Halloween" movies). The two displays have raised $122,000 to support people with cancer and their families.

The Christmas display includes inflatables of "all the classics:" Santa and his reindeer Rudolph, Yukon Cornelius and Frosty the Snowman, as well as Star Wars characters. The iconic leg lamp from "A Christmas Story" is there in inflatable form, so is Cousin Eddie's classic RV from "Christmas Vacation."

"There's something for everyone," says Gemma, 52. "We're all kids at heart."

Setting up the display took a lot of work by the Gemmas, volunteers and some of their employees, but the labor didn't end there. The inflatables are especially vulnerable to wind, and the Gemmas must tend them constantly and keep a steady watch on the weather to ensure their display doesn't blow away. Gemma says it's helpful that the couple work from home in their real estate business.

"They're like sails in the wind," Gemma says. "They'll snap 12-inch stakes."

Putting on the display and handing out candy and toys isn't cheap, Gemma acknowledges, although he wouldn't reveal the cost. He says it's worth it. He and his wife get a lot of pleasure from seeing people enjoy their display.

"It's a great feeling," Gemma says. "The joy outweighs the expense."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Christmas light displays not to miss and the people behind them