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Winter Wonderland in Yucaipa 33375 x Manning St., Yucaipa, CA 92399 Nearest major x are Oakcross streets Glen Rd. and Yucaipa Blvd. Show Times: x Dec. 6 - Jan.1 Fri., Sunday-Thursday 5:30-9 pm Friday-Saturday 5:30-10 pm Please x respect our neighbors and do not honk or block driveways. Please out for x watchchildren parents and walking throughout the neighborhood. Tune your x 92.5 FMcar radio to when viewing the houses. 10 By Jaelin Palmer On Fri., Dec. 6, the town's most elaborate Christmas light show will premiere for the holiday season with 14 homes involved. Light show founder Jon Zrolyks is excited for another beautiful holiday season. "People have already been calling to find out the dates," Zrolyks said. "It's wonderful that people are already planning the show into their holiday season." But the light show isn't the first time Jon has gone all out for the holiday season. About 18 years ago, Jon was living in an apartment complex in Fresno. The landlord had a decoration contest. "Whoever had the best decoration got $200 off their rent… and I won!" Zrolyks laughed. Since his father loved the holiday season as well, it was something he knew well. To this day Zrolyk's family has a 14-foot Christmas tree in their house decked out with lights. "It's like one of those trees you see in the mall," said Zrolyks. Jon said he got the idea for the light show after he moved into his home in Chapman Heights and saw a Budweiser commercial featuring a real light show. "I started doing research on how the guy did it, and I ended up finding the company who did his animated lighting," said Zrolyks. The first year it was just Zrolyks house. He said it cost quite a bit of money the first year because of all the extension cords he had to buy. He spent almost $1,500 on the cords alone. Each year his immediate neighbors begged to be a part of the show, and after a year or two on his own, Zrolyks agreed. It was a three-house show for a couple of years, but the more popular the show became, the more neighbors on the street OUR YUCAIPA | December 2013 wanted in. Once the show got up to 14 houses, the show needed a new system and a more computer savvy operator. Enter Jeff Maxey. "Without Jeff, this show wouldn't be possible," Zrolyks said gratefully. "Jeff did so much research, and that's why the show is so incredible every year." The lights show went from an original 36-channel system to the current 400-channel system in a matter of years. According to Zrolyks, someone has to program every individual light for every beat, in every song. To say the job is tedious is a bit of an understatement. So Maxey and Zrolyks decided to start having other neighbors in the light show pitch in. "It takes roughly 20 hours to program one three minute song, and we have at least 12 every year," Zrolyks told us, sounding exasperated. It's little wonder he often feels weary of Christmas songs before the season even starts. In the past few years, Zrolyks just didn't have the time anymore. But due to an unfortunate accident Zrolyks had nothing but time this year. "Now that my leg is broken, I'm not going anywhere," Zrolyks said. If Zrolyks works all day long it will take him about four days to finish a song. That's why Zrolyks said he is so jealous of his neighbor Matt Uribe. "He has so much computer experience and knowledge. Matt can program a song in a day," Zrolyks said. Although setting up the show is difficult, it is extremely rewarding. Zrolyks said people leave nice gift baskets at their doors to thank them for making the Christmas season special. "I notice some people who come to the show don't have a lot. This is their Christmas. It means a lot to be