It's About Time! 

Welcome to your September/October 2006 edition of the PlanetChristmas newsletter!  It is published regularly and covers important topics for the Christmas decorating enthusiast. 

Plan Now for Christmas Display Security! 

You’re already thinking seriously about the 2006 Christmas light display.  Don’t worry.  It’s never too early to start planning.  The more you do now means the less you have to panic about when putting everything outside. 

As you think about your display, consider the viewing public.  I’m constantly amazed at the really odd things people can do when they are dazzled by all the lights.  Kids get so excited they want to run into the display to see something up close.  Grown-ups think your display is on public property so they walk right through the yard and look in your windows.  The worst can be the party people that stream out of the holiday light tour limousines looking for a place to relieve themselves.  All of this sounds amusing, but when you’re inside the house, look out a window and see someone tripping over extension cords, you’re attitude changes quickly.

There are tricks to keep people out of harms way. 

Consider putting a simple fence around your display.  The magic is to keep the fence low so it doesn’t block the view but lets people know there’s a boundary they should not cross.  A fence about two feet high is perfect.  I make fence posts out of rebar and space them six feet apart.  Put a big PVC candy cane over each post and string cheap garland between them.  I use the green plastic covered wire preferred by gardeners to secure everything to the fence posts.  Now you have a festive looking barrier people will not cross.  If you have a problem with critters (dogs running at full speed can do real damage), use 24” chicken wiring between the posts.  Keep in mind the fence is not a permanent structure but a visual deterrent. 

My favorite trick is to use red rope light and stake it to the ground where you would normally put a fence.  Every few feet put a sign that says “DANGER-High Voltage At All Times”.  Any time a child gets anywhere close to the red line on the grass, there will be a parent yelling to back away.  I call this my virtual fence and it really does work.  Find the artwork to make your own “DANGER” sign on PlanetChristmas at: http://www.planetchristmas.com/Signs.htm 

Many of us have street lights in front of our homes.  If you’re lucky, local government will unscrew the bulb during the display season.  If not, some enthusiasts have been known to shine a beam of light on the street light electric eye to fool it into thinking the sun is out.  There has even been some success using a pocket laser pointer to fool the daylight sensor.  One year my city refused to turn off the street light directly in front of my home.  I thought it was the end of the world but just the opposite happened.  The street light stayed on, people could see as they walked around my display and it made for a better experience.  Bottom line: if you have a street light and you can’t turn it off, use it to your advantage. 

Unfortunately, the larger your display, the better the chances of someone wanting to do mischief.  I wish I had a good answer why this happens.  The best deterrent is to turn on flood lights when your display goes dark.  Don’t be bashful about using “No Trespassing” and “High Voltage” signs.  Make sure your really valuable items are secured to a steel cable wrapped around a tree or some other solid anchor.  In other words, use common sense.  Call your local police department and they’ll have several suggestions.  Some law enforcement agencies will even park off-duty cruisers on your property (did you ever notice how an empty police car always seems to be parked in front of a bank?)  As for me, I like the idea of hiding in the bushes with a paintball gun .) 

Two Tips of the Month 

Label.  Label.  Label.  The more lights you have, the more power you need which means zillions of extension cords that all start looking alike.  Start thinking now about labeling everything.  It might sound like a waste of time until you have to troubleshoot a problem when people are parked in front of your house waiting for a show.  I’ve found it best to carry a roll of blue, paper-based masking tape and permanent marker while setting up the display.  Flag each end of a cord with the tape and mark where it goes or what it does.  The tape will hold up fine during the 30-45 days your display is outside.  When it comes time to teardown the display, just pull off the tape so it doesn’t interfere with next year’s setup.

Start talking to your neighbors now if you anticipate your display creating any traffic issues.  If you have Scrooge-like neighbors, work with them to alleviate their concerns.  Letting everyone know your plans while also stressing your display is a gift to the community will save much grief later on.

Help us Grow for PLUS2007! 

Just in case you haven’t heard, PLUS2007 is in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, August 2-4, 2007.  The new www.PLUS2007.com website is now online and accepting registrations for the event.  Here’s a hint: the registration price goes up on the first of the month, so register now and save some money!  

If you attended either of our major PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium (PLUS) events, you know a great time is in store.  There is plenty being taught by the experts, but you also discover so much more sharing information with other enthusiasts and also talking directly to our vendors. 

The key to success for PLUS2007 is the continued growth of the PlanetChristmas community.  Check the PlanetChristmas chatroom and calendar for the possibility of a local mini-PLUS in your area during 2006 while waiting for PLUS2007.

What’s New at PlanetChristmas? 

This time of year, my favorite PlanetChristmas webpage is http://www.planetchristmas.com/FigurePower.htm.  It gives information on how much current various types of Christmas lights consume.  Planning ahead to distribute your power load makes things much easier the first night you light up the display and have to run around resetting electrical circuit breakers.

Checked the Chatroom Lately? 

Talking about a gold mine of information, this is the place!  If you haven’t found it yet, go to http://www.planetchristmas.com/talk.htm.  We’ve recently added more forums and made it a little easier to get around.  Once you’re a member, feel free to change the look and feel of the chatroom by going to “My Account/Preferences/Board Theme.”  Also remember the part of the chatroom you can see when not logged in is indexed by the Internet search engines, but once you’re a registered member, many new forums open up but are invisible to the search engines.  PlanetChristmas believes strongly in protecting your privacy.

Got something to Announce/Buy/Sell/Trade? 

We’ve added a dedicated classified ads website at http://classifieds.planetchristmas.com.  There are no fees for the PlanetChristmas community.

Don’t forget about Instant Messaging! 

Just start at http://www.planetchristmas.com/talk.htm if you want to instant message with others in the PlanetChristmas community.

PlanetChristmas Blogging Update 

The PlanetChristmas blog server has been hit hard by the spam ‘bots over the last few months.  It’s been so bad our hosting provider has said in no uncertain terms to fix things or move elsewhere.  I can take a hint.  We’re beta testing a new blog service now.  It is easier to use than our original blogging service and has many more barriers for the spam ‘bots to jump before doing their misdeeds.  Our beta has advertising banners running, but once everything is fully baked, the advertisements will disappear.  Check it out at http://blog.planetchristmas.com

Newsletter Suggestion? 

Have a suggestion for a main topic or want to write an article for a future PlanetChristmas newsletter?  Send us an email:  newsletter@planetchristmas.com!  If you know someone that really should subscribe to your newsletter, send them to http://www.planetchristmas.com/Newsletters.htm

Next time: look forward to more Christmas decorating tips. 

Chuck Smith of PlanetChristmas