Greetings from the Norton Family
There's only
Welcome!
Thank you for
visiting our historic website!
* 2023's Display *
Our 2023 animated electronic LED display
is up and operastional, and running nightly from 5P to 9PM, unless rain
is in the forecast. We had added more lights and animation to make
it even more festive. Our plan is to have it up at least through
New Year's Eve (depends on the weather forcast for after New Year's
Eve). * 2022's
Display *
We had been in our new home in Valencia, CA - about 23 miles north-west
of our former Burbank home - for about 6 months when we ran our 2022
display. It was an all-LED display with lots of animation!!
The neighbors loved it - and we have enjoyed putting on the show in our
new community!! It was up until after New Year's Day.
* 2021's Display * We
concluded the running of our
2021 display at the end of December! This was a digitally animated
light display - not lights to music as it commonly featured these days,
but instead attractions that are animated to simulate motion. It
was cool and visitors with whom we had spoken shared with us how much they
enjoyed it. We certainly miss the former display, but
circumstances necessitated us moving in a direction that would enable us
to continue celebrating the season without all the heavy lifting and constant
monitoring that the former display required. We are pleased that
our kids and their families are carrying on the tradition of our former
display by featuring the attractions we gave them in their own
displays!!
* 2020's Display *
Our 2020 Christmas Display was
great! We had great weather that enabled us to run every night since
opening night on December 5th. Our last night of operation was Saturday,
December 26th. We were going to run it on the 27th, but a big
storm arrived on the 28th, so we need to begin dismantling on the
27th.
Information on our 2020 display is
a bit further down this page. Just below, however, are some
interesting tidbits on our prior displays!
* 2019's Display *
2019 was an exciting our - our 50th for celebrating! We had
unprecedented rain for the latter part of November that adversely
affected our getting this display completed. We ran beginning on
December 5th, and ended on December 27th. We lost 8 days this year
due to rain. By contrast, in 2018, we lost only one
(1) day due to rain!!
For 2019, we added new horses to the
Merry-Go-Round (thanks to our son and daughter-in-law - David and Lisa -
for cutting them out and painting them), new LED lights in various parts of the display, new
characters (including a cute large sized Sven from the movie Frozen) for the kids to
find in the display! Our neighbor, Keith LaPrath, had his
beautiful display completed and launched on the 9th. So, visitors to our block this
year had two beautiful but different displays to view. It
was a fun time for all who came to Burbank to see the displays.
* 2018's Display *
Our 2018 display
began operation on Saturday, December 1st. We had new items in
the display for this year! One was a new large grinch who is taking lights off
our train station! Argh!! More work to put them
back. We have also added a number of new characters and other
lighted and unlighted items to this year's display. As in the
past, the two webcams were operational so that visitors could share the
display with family, friends and others and actually wish them a Merry
Christmas from the sidewalks of Burbank!!! The display ran through December 27th.
* 2017's Display *
This year, we built a new top to the Merry-go-round
that is about a 1/4th of the weight of the original top. This will prolong
the life of the drive components as well as make assembly and tear-down
of the Merry-go-round easier. We replaced our aging lamps and
added new blow mold components to the display. Our new webcams
were a big hit this year, as was the game the kids (and adults!) played
nightly trying to find the listed characters hidden throughout the
display. Weatherwise, it was without question the best year ever.
We lost just one night to rain. It had not been predicted for that
evening, so we loaded all of the stuffed characters, and headed off to
Home Depot for a few items. When we left the store (about 5 PM),
it was raining lightly. We headed home, gathered up the damp
stuffed characters, and they spent the evening and next day on our
living room floor drying out. The rain was just enough to dampen
them. But we could not run the display that night.
Early in the
season, we have some horrific winds that almost were too much to run,
but we did anyway. Leaves were everywhere, and the huge Thomas
file raged out of control in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
Other fires also burned, but were put out. Many homes were lost
due to the fires. Overall, however, it was one of the most
successful years of sharing the display.
Our neighbor, Keith LaPrath (www.wintersnowland.com)
did not run his display this year (he did not run it in 2016 either),
but hopefully, he will for 2018. Many guests asked about it.
Finally, you have to check out the
video our neighbor, Dan Coplan (a professional cameraman -
www.skybanditpictures.com) took of our display. It is amazing.
You will see the link near the end of our pictures for 2017.
Now, here is some history for you!
* 2016's Display *
Our
2016 display was a big success! Fortunately, the high winds that were
predicted to last through Saturday, December 3rd, subsided enough that
afternoon so that we could actually open that evening. Everything
ran perfect for the season and that helped us attract thousands of visitors.
We ran the display through December 27th.
We have posted progress and other
pictures for 2016's year's display below.
* 2015's Display *
The 2015 display
went "live" on December 5th and ran as planned through
December 27th.
We lost five days due to rain. New for 2015 were three laser projectors that are
really adding to the display. New LED lights have been
incorporated as well (making the display brighter - and of real
importance - saving some $$$ on operation!!).
Our 2014 display was a success. Pictures of it finished as well as progress pictures are
below. Our first night of operation was Saturday, November 29th.
It was intended for a test run, but we left it on for the evening as
there were so many people that showed up! It ran
nightly from 6-9 PM (a bit later on Friday and Saturday nights) - UNLESS
rain was in the forecast. There is too much power to run in wet
weather. Our last night was to run was December 27th.
We lost six (6) days of running due to the rain this year.
Overall, that is not bad - certainly better than several years ago!!
Unfortunately, our neighbor - Keith LaPrath with his beautiful Winter
Snowland display - was unable to run this year due to his new job that
got him home too late each night to run it. But he brought it back
for 2015!!! Our 2013 display
was a huge success. Progress pictures from last year are still
displayed below.
For 2013, we began running on
December 2nd and our last night of running was Friday December
27th. We added more LED lighting for 2013 as well as some new
characters and other items.
We have provided a lot of the
history and media of our display in this website. Here is an
executive summary of those past years.
For 2012, we began nightly
operation on schedule on Saturday, December 3rd. The last night for
that year's display's operation was Thursday, December 27th. We
began assembling the 2012 display on November 1st. Actually - we put up
the icecycles in October to use with our Halloween Grave Yard (they have
an eerie effect in the background without having lights on them!)
We updated the train station for 2011 and in 2012, and added a new top to the
Merry-Go-Round. We also added more LED lights and low wattage
flood lamps (for power savings)
and updated many of the wood characters. Our North Pole Express
train got a new flat car for 2012!
2011 was our 3rd year of
running our former "analog" theme park display - which, actually, is
really a hybrid analog-digital display since much of the animation is
run with a computer! Our 2008 display was the fourth and final season for our digital light
display that we first
introduced in the 2005 Christmas
Season. That display featured the Holiday theme park design that
has been so popular with our
analog display.
We had a great time designing and displaying the
digital theme park. But, the feedback was that it did not have the same "magic" as the
original display. We gave in, and brought back the analog theme park display
in 2009 with the exception of the train and Ferris wheel. We built new
replacements for those attractions in 2009. We have made the former display
even better
with the addition of digital
control of lights and animation!!!
Click here to visit
a special section of this website for more details on the digital display
with pictures from 2005 and 2006.
Christmas Display - 2023
This is our second year operating our display in our new home town of Valencia!!
We actually had it operational for Thanksgiving and have been running it ever
since. The display is larger than last year and features a lot of
animation, such as: Penguins skating around an ice pond An elf shooting presents out of a canon into a sack
for Santa Two animated tall soldiers A tall windmill with spinning candy cane blades A train with rotating wheels and animated smoke An animated train signal with alternating flashing
lights A tall snowman juggling snowballs A jack-in-the-box A elf painting a large ornament with red point We have a number of new blow-mold characters that we added to
those we brought from our Burbank display. We also incorporated a number of new LED neon
rope light characters (very cool technology) in the display. They are easy
to spot because they are very bright. We also are featuring our
original nativity from Burbank. Of course, we are playing favorite
traditional Christmas carols through Bose speakers outside.
All-in-all, it makes for a very festive experience. We encourage
visitors to park (lots of parking on the street) and take a closer look at
the display. A cute blow-up of Clark Griswald (from Christmas
Vacation) is on hand as well up near the front door. The kids can
stand next to him for a cute picture!!! By the way, a number of visitors enjoy taking their
family picture in front of the bright display for future Christmas cards or
their Facebook/Instagram pages.
This is new for 2023!! We brought back a game for the kids like we
had in Burbank - specifically, challenging them to search for 20 different
characters and attractions within the display. It is similar to a game
from decades ago called "Where's Waldo." There is a signboard at the front
of the display that lists the items to find. We enjoy watching the kids
searching for these items. Mom and dad may have to help the little ones. Here is a partial picture of our display as it appeared
on December 17th:
If you click here, you can watch a video clip of the entire display
at that time.
Make sure that you go full-screen and have your speakers on to listen to the
music!
Because of the power outside on the lawn, bushes, and elsewhere, if it is
raining more than a slight mist, we will not run the display just to keep
everyone safe. With dozens of plugs and power towers, it is difficult to
totally waterproof all of them.
Our daughter and son-in-law have a beautiful display over on Cielo Court (a few
minutes away). Among the attractions, they are featuring the animated
train (with operating wheels and smoke!) that we used to have at our Burbank
home. It was always very popular with the kids, especially boys as they
all seem to have a love for trains!! it is definitely worth a quick trip
to their house to see the display. They also have an 8' tall Santa, a tall
Grinch, and some ice skaters in motion among other attractions. There is
also a projected Santa in the upstairs window along with a beautiful Christmas
tree.
If you have an opportunity to visit Palmdale (about 40 minutes north of Santa
Clarita), you can visit the HUGE light show our son, David, features at their
home in the Goode Estate's area (Granada Drive). It is a spectacular light
show set to music. There is also a very cool and large animated electronic
display across the street (you get two for one for making the trip)! You
can click on the picture below to watch a video clip of the display.
Finally, our other son (Chris) and his family have a beautiful display at their
home in Palmdale (on Laidlaw Lane) that features several of our former Burbank
attractions - the Merry-go-round, Ferris Wheel, Flying Swings, etc. If you
are in the area, swing by to see those and other attractions.
Christmas Display - 2022 This was our first year at our new home in
Santa Clarita, CA! We brought lights and music to our street,
and there were many other very beautiful homes nicely decorated in our area.
We were pleased that the community is motivated to decorate. In fact,
there was a Holiday Lighting Contest underway in our community that we found
out about later in the season!! We were entered by someone in
the community in the competition, but being our first year, I was not expecting to
take home the grand prize. We just enjoy bring joy to those who pass
by. As it turned out, we were honored with 3rd place. I filmed our display on December 19th, and the video clip
is below. We brought many of our electronic attractions from Burbank,
and purchased a few more up here in Santa Clarita. The entire display
is LED which is great for low power consumption and long life for the bulbs.
Our former neighbor in Burbank - Keith LaPrath (529 N Florence St) - who
took first place this year (2022) in Burbank's Holiday Decorating Contest
(congratulations, Keith - well deserved!) - told me of some really great LED
C9 bulbs that are just as bright as the incandescent ones - yet use a
fraction of the power. So cool!!!
Christmas Display - 2021
This was an animated digital
motion light show.
We had a train with spinning wheels and blowing smoke; there is an elf firing
off a cannon sending presents flying through the air and landing in a sack; then
there is an elf painting a large red ornament. We have skating penguins
going around on a patch of ice. There is a conveyor belt transporting
completed packages from Santa's toy shop to the waiting hands of an elf, who
takes the presents over to Santa's toy sack. We have drumming soldiers.
We kept and featured the toy shop with the animated classic elves, as well
as Santa's train station with Mickey and Minnie Mouse watching the visitors! Of course, there is Christmas music playing on the yard and in the tree in the
parkway. Both webcams are operational giving visitors the opportunity to
call family or friends and say Merry Christmas from in front of the display!
The roof remains the nativity scene to remind all who visit the true meaning of
Christmas.
The new display is totally computer controlled - coming on at 5 PM and going off
at 9:30. If there is heavy rain in the forecast (as is predicted for the
13th and 14th of December), the display will be off. The music shuts off
at 9 PM so the little children that live on either side of us can get to sleep.
Here is a link to a short video clip of the 2021 display. We hope you had
an opportunity to visit it in person.
Christmas Display - 2020 We really wrestled with the issue of putting on our
display for 2020 given the pandemic and concern for crowds gathering at the
display. We had decided NOT to do it this year, but the phone calls,
e-mails, death threats (just kidding - no death threats or protests) were
hot and heavy - folks told us that the community needed something to look
forward to and the display will be so appreciated - especially by the kids
who have been shut in for so long. So, after talking with our family,
I am pleased to share that the show is back on!!! We began its assembly on November 5th, and in fact, by
November 17th, most all of the big attractions were assembled and
operational! Check out the video clip below for the 17th (just
click on the picture). We had a major work day on Saturday, 11/14 in
which our kids, grandkids, nephew and dear friend pitched in. Our
granddaughter, Kristin, has been spending a lot of time helping us!
I have been fortunate to have had several neighbors pitch in s and help on
some tasks - whether an extra pair of hands or climbing a ladder to retrieve
and place something for me. We are hoping that this
holiday season will not be as rainy as 2019! I am posting some progress pictures below.
November 5, 2020 - lights on roof
November 7, 2020 - front lights
November 11, 2020-tent lights,
November 14, 2020 - Rich Meza and Kristin
November 14, 2020 - Dave Coss
David and Lisa working on new Buzz
Dave Coss and Ron Fuller
Granddaughter Hannah in toy shop
All done for the day (11/14)
November 15, 2020 - well on our way!
People are starting to check it out!
November 17, 2020 - lots of progress
Link to a November 17, 2020 movie clip
November 26, 2020 - almost done
December 3, 2020 - begins in 2 days!
December 5, 2020 - Opening Night Movie
TV Special - 2020 Spectrum TV did a special filming of our display for 2020,
and it aired during the holiday season several times. Here is a link
to their video coverage. Just click on the image below:
Live Streaming Webcams
During the season, there are two *live* streaming webcams to allow our online
guests to enjoy the show live during operating
hours. At other times, viewers could catch us at work on the display. Both webcams have a microphones and pick up the sounds of
Christmas from the display. The one over the sidewalk (TREE cam) can
hear visitors'
voices pretty clearly. If you visit the display, you can call family or friends and direct them
to WWW.NORTONSWINTERWONDERLAND.COM and they should be able to see and
hear you!! Wish them a Merry Christmas from Burbank, CA!! NOTE - some browsers have difficulty viewing the CAMS.
We have had success with FIREFOX and SAFARI as well as Microsoft EDGE.
Some Internet Explorer versions will not display - no clue why. If you
get a message that the video is not supported, then open up the website in
another browser. ROOF CAM TREE
Another holiday season is over. Our 2019 display marks a
half-century of celebrating the holidays with yard displays!! We began assembly of the display on November 1st. It generally
takes us about 5 weeks, and that meant that we planned to go live on December
6th. We actually began operating a day early (December 5th) because
rain was predicted for the 6th. Below are some progress pictures
as well as some finished photos for this year's display.
Our neighbor, Keith LaPrath, had his beautiful display up and running most of
the season. It is was so cool to have both displays in operation this
year! The visitors to our street were really pleased to have both to
view!!!
Here is a picture of Keith's display:
2019 Pictures
Below are some progress pictures for our 2019 display.
Saturday, November 16th, was our big work day. Our son, David and his
wife, Lisa, grandson Stephen, our friend, Dave Coss, and I tackled the
Santa's Train Station, the roof and the front tree. We made a lot
of progress that day. Lisa did a lot of painting to refresh some
of our characters that day. Enjoy the pictures.
Halloween Night
November 3, 2019
November 6, 2019
November 6, 2019
November 12, 2019
November 12, 2019 (Lisa Painting)
November 14, 2019
November 16, 2019 (Stephen in tree)
November 16, 2019 - Train Station
November 17, 2019
November 23, 2019
November 24, 2019
December 5, 2019
December 5, 2019
December 9, 2019 (New "Sven"
Reindeer)
December 9, 2019
December 23, 2019
We have a log book for visitors to sign and share their
comments with us. Since this was a special 50th year of decorating
anniversary for us, we thought we would digitize the log book for folks to
read through it. So, below in the link:
We were also featured on the front page of the Burbank Leader (an insert in
the Los Angeles Times) on Christmas Day. For those who missed the
article, I digitized and uploaded it to this website. Here is the link
to the article:
2019 FINAL DISPLAY
We were interviewed by the Burbank Leader (affiliated with the LA Times)
during the 2019 season. Read the article by clicking on the image
below.
Christmas Display - 2018 This was be
our 49th year of putting on a Christmas Display. Granted - in the early
days, it was a simple display, but we still decorated our yard for the
enjoyment of our neighbors and the community. This year, we will be
adding some new features to the display that will be shared as we get closer
to the launch date. As in past years, we put on our annual Halloween
graveyard that was a big success. We had just under 500
trick-or-treaters pick up their candy (a few were too spooked by the display
and we had to take their treats to them on the sidewalk!). Spiders
dropping out of trees over the sideway, mysterious air blasts, popping scary
heads from behind headstones, spooky music, moving skeleton in the tree, and
the list goes on. Lots of screams and fun to be sure. We put up our ice cycles mid-October as they work well to
provide an eerie look for the Halloween display. The two tall tent
poles were put up early as well as they also serve a dual purpose by holding
up the giant animated spider for Halloween, and then Snoppy's bi-plane for
Christmas! Below are some progress pictures we will share as we
put this display together for 2018. I have also added some commercial
news video coverage, as well as some images of the final display. We
hope you enjoy them. This page usually plays music, but I turned it
off as it conflicted with the new coverage audio. We ran the display on Thanksgiving although we were not
totally done. We did go "live" on December 1st, but as of this update
(12/6), we were off for rain on December 5th and 6th. There is no rain
in the forecast for the next 7 days, so ideally, we will be up and running
beginning on December 7th. Merry Christmas to all.
Nov 2- up go the front house lights
Nov 4 - new icecycle lights and roof lights
Nov 5 - lighted candy canes and ropes to
secure the yard
Nov 6 - added the tent lights
Nov 8 -Added ights between polls & the tall
globes top of poles
Nov 10 - added frames for the Ferris wheel
Nov 12 - added Hammer frame and candy canes
and flood lights
Nov 14 - added train and train track
Nov 16 (major work day) - Bailey securing the
angel on the roof
Nov 16 - our nieces Karley and Sarah
Nov 16 - our roof crew
Nov 16 - David and Chris tackle the tree!
Nov 16 - grand daughters Sophie and Hannah
Nov 16 - after we are done for the day!
Nov 19 - worked on smaller stuff Here is a video clip of our display taken on November
25th. Most of it is together - but we still have to add snow to
the yard and all of the characters. Progess Video as of November 25, 2018
Channel 11 Coverage - December 3, 2018
Spectrum News Coverage -
December 6, 2018 Here a some images of our 2018 display.
Ferris Wheel Spinning
Our new Grinch for 2018 - made by David and Lisa
Norton
Our roof nativity sceen
Snoopy's bi-plane with spinning propeller
View of the display at night
The display from across the street
One of the grinches visitors need to find within
the display!
One of our elves on the train
A game for visitors to play at night!
The large ornament
Our clever neighbor with the "DITTO" sign - gets lots of laughs
from visitors!
Christmas Display - 2017 We began the set-up of our 2017 annual Christmas
display in October when we put up the ice cycles and the tent poles
as part of our Halloween haunted graveyard display. We used purple
lights on the ice cycles to provide an eerie background. The poles
supported a huge animated spider! On November 2nd, we put up our house and roof lights, as
well as the new twinkling large balls on the tops of the two tent poles.
All of the lighting needs to be completed before we could bring out the animated
attractions later in the month. We worked daily on putting
the display together. We had a little rain on Thursday (11/16) night,
and Friday morning (11/17) - but otherwise, the weather was pretty
good! Below are progress videos for this year's display. As of
Saturday, 11/17, all of the big attractions were in place! The sound
systems for the main display and the train were set up and operating.
Roof was about done, but we still needed to work on finishing the parkway tree. We were pretty much done (maybe 90%) as of Thanksgiving -
and we actually ran it for the evening with lots of surprised and happy visitors.
On Saturday, December 2nd, we turned it on about 6 PM just to test what we
had finished, and within minutes, the front of the house was covered with
people. We ended up leaving it on until almost 9 PM - which gave us a
good test run. All worked well. We still needed to add the snow
(which was done Monday morning - 12/4). As of December 3rd, there was no rain in the upcoming
forecast for many days, but high Santa Ana winds were predicted. Gusts
here were in the 40+ MPH range. Fortunately, we were able to run for
the scheduled opening night on December 4th. This turned out to be a record year for the
number of days we were able to run the display losing only 1 day to rain!!!!).
New top for the Merry-go-round
Lights set up on house and roof on 11/2/2017
Candy canes,
gate and roof star set up on 11/3/2017
Got the tent
lights up on 11/7/17
Finished the double hammer
ride on 11/8/17
Added tent lights over roof,
lit toy shop,
Christmas Tree is in place on
11/09/17
Toy shop lit up / tree webcam
operational - 11/9
Flying Swings assembled and
operational - 11/10
Ferris Wheel frame in place on
11/13/17
Ferris Wheel up and going - 11/14/17
The Red Baron flies again -
11/14/17
Merry-go-round going together
- 11/15/17
Merry-go-round done - 11/15/17
North Pole Express completed - 11/16/17
Our display as of - 11/16/17
Our display as of - 11/17/17
Train Station up on 11/17/17
Angels are up as of 11/17/17
Toy Shop finished as of 11/18/17
Just about done as of 12/2/17
This is a picture taken by the photographer for
the Burbank Leader for the LA
Times Article
on 12/6/2017
The local bike club visits us - 12/11/17
Santa pays us a visit on 12/11/17
Aerial Drone View as of
12/14/2017
Here is a video of the display as of 11/19/2017
Here is a gorgeous ground level and sky View of our display done for us by Dan of
http://www.skybanditpictures.com/ on
12/24/2017. See
the company's link in the Sponsor section at the end of the website!
NortonXmas_MSTR from Dick Norton on Vimeo.
LA Times Article on the 2017 Display - click on picture to read
_____________
Our eldest son, David, has a gorgeous display in Palmdale California. It
is a digital light show, and is linked to the home across the street.
Opening Night - December 3, 2016!
Our eldest son, David, and his wife, Lisa, have put on
quite a show at their home in Palmdale. They are expecting their first
grandchild over the holidays, and opted for 2016 to do a really cool
animated santa film in one of their large windows since they could be off to
the hospital for the birth at any moment during the season. What a
great Christmas blessing for our family to have a new member join us this
year!! Below is a picture of their home in 2013 - fully animated
to some great soundtracks for favorite Christmas songs. I expect it
will return for the 2017 holiday season! Our Son's Family Home Christmas Display in 2013 His 2014 display was outstanding! For 2015, he and a neighbor
across the street have LINKED their homes together controlled by David's
electronic Light-O-Rama system. We got to see it in action - a great
job!!
left until next Christmas!!
train and framework for Ferris
working on roof items
and me working on hammer
Light Year they made for display
working on Ferris Wheel
(Pam with shaky snowmen!)
added Christmas tree -
11/9/17
We're so glad that you stopped by to visit the Norton family's Christmas display web site. This home page has lots of graphics. Please be patient while it loads. You will see a link to our guestbook further down this page. Please take a few moments to drop us a line!
As you read on the first page and above, we brought back our former analog large display in 2009. Actually, as one visitor mentioned, that year began a new era with our "hybrid" display. It is our former analog display augmented with the digital technology we have used for the last four years!
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A note about videos - some on this site are high definition. If your Internet connection is slow, let them "buffer" fully before playing. Otherwise, play them a second time and you should get smooth playback. |
Our 2016 display went "live" on December 3rd!! We have added some additional items. We had a big workday on the 12th of November. My two sons - David and Chris - along with Chris's daughters (Hannah and Sophie) spent the day helping me get up the big attractions. Check out our progress pictures below. Pam was at Providence St. Joseph with Debbie who is recovering from a botched appendectomy (thanks in our opinion to the negligence of Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia). As a side note, after what Debbie went through, I would stay away from Henry Mayo if you need medical treatment.
During this season, we had great help from Adam - a student at Burbank High - who worked with me on several occasions. Thanks, Adam, for your help! I look forward to your help again when we get ready to put this away at the end of the season.
Our grandson, Stephen, spent all day on Saturday, November 19th, helping with our roof and the front tree. He says he really enjoys the season and being part of the display! We so appreciate his help as well!! We still have some additional wiring and lighting to do - and of course, adding the snow.
Here is the opening night image taken on December 3, 2016!
 November 1st |
November 4th |
 November 12th |
 November 12th |
 November 15th (new sleigh for train) |
 November 15th |
 November 17 |
 November 18 |
 November 19 |
 December 3, 2016 (Opening Night) |
 December 3 |
 December 3 |
|
December 3, 2016 (Opening Night) |
December 3 |
December 3 |
In 2016, we are honored to be featured in the publication THRILLIST. This has contributed to the hundreds of visitors who come by each night to see the display in person:
We are also featured on the cool website California Christmas Lights. Click on the picture below for the full listing as well as to learn about other cool displays in the area!
Finally - a video of the 2016 Christmas Display!
We began our annual setup in October with the installation of the ice cycles and the two tall tent poles as part of our Halloween Display. The ice cycles, while beautiful covered with Christmas lights, give off an eerie effect with orange lights used for Halloween! The two tall poles are used to lift up a large 8' animated spider.
On November 1st, the Halloween display was put away, and the house lights went up! Since then, we have been adding more lights, added the roof attractions, and on the 11th of November, all of the tent lights were put in place. Below are some progress pictures for the display.
We had great help from our sons (David and Chris), our daughter-in-law, Lisa, who worked with Pam on repainting the Merry-Go-Round horses, our grandson Stephen who was a big help in getting the major attractions out of storage and set up! Without all of the family's help, we would not attempt this display. Our neighbor, Keith, who has a beautiful display as well that you must see, was down on a number of occasions to give us a hand when needed. We appreciate Keith!!!! He also shares his creative ideas with us and that helps make the display as memorable as possible. Visitors to our street received a double-treat with both of our displays in full swing!!!
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House lights
added |
Roof lights added |
Archway added |
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Roof
attractions added |
Tent lights finished |
Santa's Toy Shop is up!! |
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November 12, 2015 |
Holiday
Turkey with a message |
Train Station, Flying Swings
up |
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Train is up! |
Ferris Wheel
& Hammer are up! |
The ornament is in place and
lit |
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Progress is
being made! |
November 19, 2015 |
November 22, 2015
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Tree got
finished today!! |
December 2, 2015 |
December 2,
2015
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Opening Night - 12/5/15 |
 Opening Night - Train |
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Opening Night - Santa-in-the-Box |
 Opening Night - Santa's Toy Shop |
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Here are some videos taken on December 2nd, 2015 as well as some of the finished display taking on opening night - December 5, 2015.
Our animated Teeter-Totter (you can go full-screen)
Snoopy flying in on his red bi-plane
Ferris Wheel on Opening Night
Merry-Go-Round on Opening Night
Santa's North Pole Express Train on Opening Night
Animated Double-Hammer Ride on Opening Night
Santa-in-the-Box on Opening Night
Final Display - December 7, 2015
This is the article that appeared in the December 23, 2015 Los Angeles Times. Click on the image to view the article:
2014's Display
The assembly of our 2014 display was just about done as of Thanksgiving!!!!
Ok - the first progress picture is NOT Christmas! We did a haunted graveyard to spook the kids (and adults) with animated pop-up creatures, a coffin with automated lid and smoke, huge moving spider, spiders fall out out of tree onto heads of unsuspecting onlookers, and other features. I though I would share the picture of the display. It came down on 11/1, and we started putting up the lights on 11/2/14. As of 11/8, most of the lights were up. The Santa's Toy Shop and the Train Station were assembled. NOEL is up and connected to the Lightorama system (for the sequencing). The animated angels are in place and operational. We have emptied a good part of our storage shed. We still have the Merry-go-round top, train cars, train track, Ferris wheel and Santa-in-the-Box along with some other stuff to bring over from storage. As of Thanksgiving, we are well on our way to completion. Then - we had to deal with rain predicted for Dec 2 and 3. Bummer! (I know we need the water desperately - but it really puts a damper on running the display!). Still, we were able to go "live" on November 29th for that evening, but could not run again until the 4th. We lost several more days during the season, but overall - it was a huge success.
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Halloween 2014 |
November 2, 2014 |
 November 2, 2014 |
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November 3, 2014 |
November 6, 2014 |
November 7, 2014 |
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11/8 - We are getting brighter! |
11/8 - Train Station Assembled! |
11/8 - Toyshop Assembled |
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11/8 - Got the animated angels in place |
11/12 - Candy canes and other stuff |
11/12 - Here comes Snoopy!! |
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11/12 - Thanksgiving Turkey! |
11/12 - Another view of house |
11/17 - Stephen and Kristin on Roof |
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11/17 - Dick and David (in tree!) |
11/17 - Got a lot done today!!!! |
11/18 - Adding more items! |
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11/24 - Nativity on roof |
11/28 - Santa's Toy Shop (Animated) |
11/28 - Ferris Wheel (Animated) |
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11/28 - Ornament with new bells |
12/4 - North Pole Express is DONE!!! |
12/8 - Peggy and Lisa - our great painters |
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12/8 - Toyshop after painting |
12/8 - Teeter totter and tree |
12/8 - Our new neighbors |
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12/8 - Display in full operation |
12/8 - Ferris Wheel after painting |
12/8 - Another view of final display |
Short video of the engine with smoke and sound
2013's Display
The 2013 display was a huge success as was Keith's (our neighbor up the block) Winter Snowland beautiful display (Keith opted to not finish his display for 2014 that he actually had mostly up and operational by the end of November - then opted to take it down due to adverse weather forecasts and concern about damage). Our neighbor across the street, Troy, kept his gorgeous LED 24' tree displayed longer last year than Keith and I. The street was really lit up that year with all but about 8 homes decorated with lights!
Click on the play arrow to see a YouTube Video of the Display taken December 4, 2013
 Nov 1, 2013 - main lights are up! |
Nov 2, 2013 - tent lights are up! |
Nov 3 - webcam up and
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 Nov 4, 2013 - emptying storage |
Nov 6 - angels, toy shop, Santa
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 Nov 11 -making progress |
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Nov 13 - Ferris Wheel is up! |
Nov 14 - train and swings are up!
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 Nov 14 - Hammer is up! |
 Nov 19 - More items up! |
Nov 19 - Another view |
 Nov 19 - Merry-Go-Round up! |
 Nov 23 - nativity is up! |
December 3 - DONE! |
Once again, we were a featured attraction on the tour bus from Hollywood. They made three trips this night!
We also had carolers stopping and sharing music with all of the folks viewing the display!
We were in the news for the City of Burbank (that is Keith with Elmer Fudd and me). Keith has the beautiful Winter Snowland display up the street from ours.
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Photo Gallery: Burbank Christmas decoration extravaganza
Neighbors Dick Norton and Keith LaPrath pose
in front of Norton's front lawn with a Elmer Fudd statue the
two try to plant in each other's Christmas decorations.
Photographed on Wednesday, December 18, 2013.
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Photo Gallery: Burbank Christmas decoration extravaganza
Burbank resident Dick Norton's front yard is
filled to the brim with Christmas decorations on Wednesday,
December 18, 2013
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2012's Display
We were very honored to receive the following Certificate of Recognition from the California State Legislature on December 10th, 2012.
Thank you, Mike, for taking the time to deliver this certificate! We are excited to be able to share it on this website.
Here is a YouTube video of the 2012 display!!
On November 3rd, we lit up our neighbor's homes and our block with lots of light. Yup - the house and roof lights were hung and power applied! The holiday season on Florence Street had officially begun! As each day passed, we added more to the display. As of December 7th, everything was done except for adding the snow - which will be soon!
Here are the progress pictures to enjoy as the display came together for the 2012 holiday season! Our grandson, Stephen Norton, was a major help to us with the setup.
 Nov 3, 2012 Main house lights up |
 Nov 4 - Canopy lights up |
 Nov 5 - poll balls/flags |
 Nov 6 - toy shop/ice cycle lights |
 Nov 7 - train station, lights |
 Nov 8 - flood lights |
 Nov 10 - flying swings up |
 Nov 10 - flying swings |
 Nov 13 - Don our painter |
 Nov 18 - Noel and roof lit up |
 Nov 19 - more attractions up |
 Nov 19 - new Snoopy! |
 Nov 19 - train is up! |
 Nov 29 - Hammer/Ferris done! |
 Nov 24 - Merry go round done |
 Nov 25 - toy shop done |
 Nov 25 - train station done! |
 Nov 25 - 80-85% done! |
 Dec 3 - Opening Night |
 Dec 4 - folks gathering to view |
 Dec 5 -Merry-go-round |
 Dec 3 - Toy Shop |
 Dec 5 - North Pole Express |
 Dec 5 -Merry-go-round |
 Dec 7 - Just need the snow! |
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During the week of November 12th, several attractions received a new coat of fresh paint (thanks to our painter - Don Hills). The winter weather is hard on wood!
As of November 13th, the lights were basically done; the Santa's Train Station was done (except for the animated characters that were added later); the Santa's Toy Shop is done (we put in the toys and elves later); the flying swings were done; the support frames for the Ferris wheel and the dual hammer were assembled and getting new paint; the train track had been laid; Snoppy's Bi-plane has been hung and is flying over where the Merry-go-round is to be set up; the roof cam was operational; the scrolling sign has been set up.
On November 19th, we really accomplished a lot! Our oldest son, David, and his wife, Lisa, came down from Palmdale to spend a day with us in working on the display. We got the Merry-go-round up, train up, the big tree out front decorated and the tree cam operating, and other tasks. Major headway was made!
We had a week of rain after Thanksgiving. That really set us back! Still, we were able to fire up on December 3rd - the same date we opened in 2011! Weather forecast is good for at least a week - so we wanted to get it up and operating as we have no way of knowing what the future weather will be!
As of December 4th, most everything is done and operational. We still have snow to put out, and some bush lights and a few other attractions. But for the most part, we are DONE! The three sound systems are going strong, and the locomotive is smoking away! So far, so good!!!
FEATURED ON BURBANK'S HOME PAGE
We were honored to be featured on the City of Burbank's home page for 2012!!!! The home that won the 2013 Burbank decorating contest on Sparks Street was featured that year. It is a very pretty display and worthy of a trip to see it. Neither Keith (Winter Snowland up the street) nor us entered the contest to give other folks an opportunity for recognition.
Below is an image of the Burbank Home Page with our home featured.
2011's Display
Our opening night was Saturday, December 3rd.
Opening Night - December 3, 2011
This was a special evening in that a film crew was here doing a production for the Disney web show - Rule The Mix. Click on the image below to be taken to their webpage. We created a Windows Media File of their performance (sorry about the video hum - we will continue to work on that). Click here to watch them!
The stars of the show - Casey and Tyler - were here in person posing and singing at our display. The program aired on Friday, December 9 at 3 PM. Here is a shot of Casey and Tyler singing in front of the merry-go-round!
What a great way to start the season! We are looking forward to seeing the program on Friday.
We were also featured in Burbank's filming of the annual decorating contest winners for the 2011 season (we did not enter to give other folks with their beautifully decorated homes a chance for the recognition). Still, the news crew could not resist filing our home and Keith LaPrath's beautifully decorated home just up the street. The actual footage of our homes begins around 5:30 into the video. But - take time to watch the entire video so you can enjoy the homes that entered and won the contest. The 1st place winner is actually just across the street from our home and Keith's home.
OK - what was new for 2011? Well, for starters, we finished our new train station! We invited our favorite artists - Lisa and Peggy - to add their creative touches to the station and our windows. As expected, they did an outstanding job! Here is the train station dolled up for the 2011 display shown with the artists - Lisa and her mom, Peggy - on Sunday morning, December 4th:
We also replaced the top to our merry-go-round. Pam made the 2nd cover many years ago. It had served us well, but it was in desperate need of replacement. So, we found the canvas material at Joann's in Glendale, and arranged for Jon's Windows and Awnings in Burbank to do the sewing. Wow - it came out great. Jon - great work as usual!
We are also using more LED lights (good for the environment - as well as cutting down on our power bill a bit!). We have also swapped out some of our flood lights to the newer high output - low wattage style. This, too, should help with power consumption - which STILL remains pretty high.
Please be sure to read our SPONSOR'S section near the bottom of this web page. We want to give thanks to those who contribute their talents and generosity in helping us share this display each year! We fully endorse all of our sponsors, and ask that you consider them for your needs!
Also New for 2011!
We are one of 21 homes featured in this year's Yellow Pages! Click on the picture below for more details!
FEATURED ON FRITZ COLEMAN'S 2011 HOLIDAY LIGHTS
Every holiday season, Fritz Coleman - our local well-known weather man for NBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles - visits decorated homes in Southern California and features them on the evening news during his weather slot. On December 6th, we were honored to have him at our home. He and his crew did a great job in capturing the display. My wife and I, along with our son, Chris, and his son (our grandson), Devin (home after finishing his boot camp for the Army National Guard) were interviewed for the Christmas Morning 1-hour special on homes featured on Holiday Lights. Fritz also filmed our neighbor's home - Keith LaPrath - and interviewed him for the Christmas Morning special.
Our local newspaper featured a great article in December 2011 about the holiday spirit on our block. It makes for good reading. Click on the banner above to read the article.
2010's Display
We enjoy sharing some history about our display. Our opening night for 2010 was Saturday, December 4th, and our closing night was December 26th. Our normal operating hours were from about 6 to 9:30 on Fridays and Saturdays - and 6 to 9 Sunday through Thursday.
On November 2nd, the ice cycles went up along with the eve lights. As you might imagine, we received some interesting comments like, "Already?" from our neighbors when we fired the lights up for the pictures that evening. The tent lights were in place as of 11/4. By November 18th, we had most of the roof completed, the train almost totally completed, and the double-hammer, teeter-totter, Ferris Wheel, Toy Shop and flying swings completed. The Merry-go-round went up on the 27th. We were working on the display all the up to an hour before starting operation at 6PM on December 4th!
Somehow, our street with the three displays has been noticed by Star Line Tours. They had made some nightly trips with a bunch of folks. It is so cool to see the bus and hear then sing Christmas Carols out front. I will be posting a video clip soon!
Update on December 12th: The train station is now in place. We still have some work to do on it that we hope will be completed in a couple of days. We will post pictures when it is done.
Here is a picture of our opening night display on December 4, 2010!
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Here is a cool slide show presentation with some videos! Click on the picture to start the show!
2010 Pictures
 Toy Shop |
 Red Baron (Snoopy) |
 Merry-Go-Round |
 North Pole Express |
 Navity |
 Teeter Totter |
 Full Display |
 Train (on 12/9/2010) |
 Cabbage Patch Dolls |
 Animated NOEL on Roof |
Train Station (not finished) |
Coal Car |
 Circus Car |
 Caboose |
 Caboose (rear) |
 Burbank Buses Tour |
 Grinch on Train Signal |
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Our 2010 Christmas Display Video (HD)
Our 2010 North Pole Express Video (HD)
2009's Display
You can click on any image below for a larger view. For those of you interested in a bit of history, on November 8th, 2009, we temporarily rolled out our new North Pole Express train to test it. The neighbors from across the street spotted the new train, came flying over with their kids and they all loved it! You can see it below along with the Hammer (our newest attraction for our last year of the analog display - 2004). The train has its own sound system and steam generating unit!
On 11/16, the Merry Go Round was fully assembled and operational! You can check it out in the pictures below. It is great to have it back as part of the display. We finished the toy shop (except for some tinsel) on November 19th. We rolled out and set up the new train permanently on November 23rd. Wow - is it getting attention! The sound systems for the train and Merry-go-round were permanently activated on the 23rd as well. We kept on track for our December 5th opening night.
We have to share this with you! Each night when we turned on the display for a short time (to check out what we completed that day), a neighbor's young son (Jack) - 2 years old - on the street behind us spotted the lights on the top of the tall poles go on. He would yell to his mother, "It's on! Let's go!" They would race around the block to see the display and check out what we did for that day! It was so cute! I figure they will be at the display every day once we start operating it.
Here is a picture of the 2009 display taken on December 5th. You can see the new Ferris wheel on the left.
Here is a video of the new 2009 North Pole Express train on its trial run! Click on the image below!
Click on the picture below to see a neat video shot on 12/14/2009 by a visitor to our display.
Thanks, Bob, for the great video!
You can watch this video full screen at the Flip site by clicking the lower-right two arrows
Here are the 2008 display progress pictures of our last digital light show.
 11/02/2008 |
11/03/2008 |
11/09/2008 |
 11/10/2008 |
11/14/2008 |
11/16/2008 |
 11/21/2008 |
 11/28/2008 |
11/29/2008 |
 11/30/2008 |
 12/06/2008 |
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Our display was featured on The Learning Channel's 2007 special
More Crazy Christmas Lights
It was also featured on KCAL-9's evening news on December 10, 2008
Click the YouTube play button below to watch the clip.
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The display can be viewed during the holidays at 513 North Florence Street, Burbank, California. We are between the 134 (Ventura) Freeway and I-5 (Golden State). As we approach Christmas Day, parking becomes a significant problem on Florence Street. You may want to park on either of our cross streets (Verdugo or Clark) and take the short walk to the display.
* 2007 DISPLAY *
This was out third year for our digital theme park! We added some new items and animation. The picture of the display is below.
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2006 Winner - Burbank's Outdoor Decorating Contest |
Each season, the City of Burbank has a contest for the best decorations in the city. We were proud to announce that Norton's Winter Wonderland was chosen as one of the winner's in the 2006 contest. The presentation of the Award was held at the City Counsel Meeting at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, December 19th and was broadcast on Burbank's Channel 6.
Our neighbor, Keith LaPrath, was also chosen for this distinguished award - and we congratulate him on another year of recognition for his beautiful display. We think that it is great that two of the five winners are within 6 doors of each other on the same street!
What makes our displays so unique is that element of being crafted by their owners! They are one-of-a-kind - not duplicated anywhere in the city or elsewhere! We think that creating a unique one-of-a-kind display is far more interesting to visitors than simply buying all sorts of commercial decorations and covering the property! I can tell you that the amount of work, time and costs that go into creating a unique home-made display is considerable.
For those of you who visit our display in person each year, we wanted to let you know that both Keith LaPrath (Winter Snowland) and our family stopped entering the Burbank decorating contest after 2006. This provides the opportunity for other beautifully decorated homes in Burbank to receive recognition for their displays.
Opening Night - December 2, 2006
Above is an picture of our 2006 display. You can click on the image above to go to the section of this site dedicated to our newest display. What follows below is more information on our new display, but also a LOT of information on our former "analog" display that we ran through 2004.
Our original "North Pole Express" train - always a BIG favorite with the kids and adults - is proudly displayed with other beautiful decorations at 425 North Catalina - one block west of our street, and one block south of us (south of Verdugo Avenue by about 200 feet)! I hope you will drop by this address and see part of our history - and well as other beautiful decorations they have added!
Wow - were we burning the power with the digital light display!!!! We consumed over 90 AMPS - the most power we have ever drawn for any of our displays up to that time! When it is on, I tell the wife and daughter - NO turning on the oven, toaster, microwave, hair dryer - or anything that takes power!
Did you spot the growing use of LED attractions? They are the bright blue lights you see in the picture of our 2006 display above. LEDs give off a different form of light that makes them very brilliant. They are also very inexpensive to run (compared to traditional rope light). Unfortunately, the cost of LED rope light is still many times greater than standard rope light. To see additional images of our 2006 display, click here.
Channels 2 and 9 featured our 2006 display on their evening news on December 12, 2006. Click below to watch the telecast on u-tube! Keith LaPrath's display was featured on Channel 9 on December 13th. Congratulations, Keith!
Opening night of 2005's display - 12/03/2005
Our new display was a big hit in 2005! Look at the crowd checking it out!
See additional images of 2005 attractions here.
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*LIVE* STREAMING WEBCAM!!!! |
Below is a daytime snapshot taken with the Sony (roof) webcam to give you an idea of the field of view. Most of the sidewalk in front of the display is in range.
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Guest Book |
We would really love for you to sign our guest book before you leave. Just click on the image below. You can view the guest book from this link. We really appreciate your comments!
I want to again thank Richard Denny for referring so many visitors (members of the extended Denny family tree) to our website since 2003. We have enjoyed reading their comments - and those of other visitors as well!. For those of you who have not visited Richard's great holiday site, here is the link.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/7853/special/
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2004 DISPLAY HIGHLIGHTS |
The 2004's FINAL year of our original analog display was a great success! The rain in November delayed our progress at times (but, we needed the water then - as we do in 2009)!
Opening night was Friday evening, December 3rd. The display operated through Christmas Day, and was disassembled on 12/26 in advance of the BIG storm that moved in on 12/27.
We added more characters, lighted objects and fiber-optic items to the display for 2004. As a result, our electric bill was larger in 2004 than in the past. On that subject, a Burbank Realtor, Bob Idavia, made a very generous contribution toward the power bill to help us share this display. Thank you again, Bob.
We have loved putting this display together for over 30 years, and bringing joy to thousands of visitors - as well as the online community who can experience it through pictures and videos.
This display was featured in LA Parent Magazine, in the December 2004 issue. Here is a link to the article:
We also were one of three homes that received the award from the Burbank Civic Pride Committee for best outdoor decorations! We really appreciated their recognition of our labor of love to bring the joy of the season to our community!
We also had a nice write-up in the Daily News that appeared on Christmas Day!
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DISPLAY THEMES |
In case you did not notice, the display has two themes. The ground level is designed to represent a holiday theme park - and it brings smiles to children and adults alike who imagine they are flying through the air on the swings, riding the horses on the Merry-go-round, or sitting in a train car watching the smoke from the engine and hearing it "chug" down the track. We kept the same theme in our digital light show that we ran from 2005 through 2008. All of the light attractions had computer controlled animation! In 2009, our original 2004 display returns - but with new features, including a brand new Ferris wheel (that is reversible!) and a new more detailed North Pole Express train!
The roof level part of the display remains Christian themed. It is to remind all of us why we celebrate Christmas. It is the time we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - who gave us all the greatest gift we could ever ever receive - the promise of everlasting life for all who believe in him! Praise the Lord! This part of the display has remained substantially unchanged (except for the digitally sequenced NOEL sign that we enhanced in 2007).
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2006 DISPLAY PROGRESS IMAGES |
We get a lot of questions about the current display during the holiday period, and where we are in its creation. Annually, I devote a piece of this website to displaying progress images as of a given date. Here are the progress images I posted in November 2006. We went live as planned on Saturday, December 2nd.
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11/18/2006 |
11/18/2006 |
11/18/2006 |
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11/21/2006 |
11/24/2006 |
11/25/2006 |
Saturday, November 25, 2006, was exciting for us. The Learning Channel spent the day with us filming part of the setup for their show to be aired in December 2007 on the Learning Channel. The show was called "More Crazy Christmas Lights."
The camera crew came over the night of November 30th and took some film of our display and interviewed my wife and me. They told us that we would have a small part in this year's presentation. However, we watched the show and the producer apparently opted to save us for 2007. The theme for the 2006 show was the Virginia tacky light tour - and we would not fit into that theme being on the west coast!
This special for 2007 features our home and our neighbor's - and our ongoing competition for the best display in Burbank. Actually - Keith and I were talking the other night. Our displays are really so dissimilar that it is impossible to make a comparison. Both are beautiful and draw the crowds.
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2003 DISPLAY HIGHLIGHTS |
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DISPLAY FEATURED IN HOLIDAY LIGHTS MAGAZINE |
Folks often ask us about the history of the display, so we make an effort to include that information on this website. Our display for 2003 was particularly memorable as it is the year we were filmed and featured on the Home and Gardens TV channel. I discuss more about that later. Remember that through 2004, our display was what I would term an "analog" display. In layman's terms, it was made of a lot of wood and motors and thousands of lights. Beginning in 2005, we began the transition to a digital display that is controlled by sophisticated digital technology and a powerful computer. In 2009, we return to the analog display - but with the additional of digital lighting technology!
We began assembly of our 2003 Burbank Christmas display on November 1st. It began its daily operation on 12/5/2003, and the last night of operation was on 12/26/2003.
For 2003, we added our first new large attraction in a number of years - the double hammer. We also added the Nemo fish tank (that turned out to be a real favorite of the kids!).
We were are very honored to have our family's Christmas display - with its thousands of lights and extensive animation - featured in the 2003 magazine edition of Holiday Lights. Click on the first image below for more information about the great book that is available for sale by the publisher. The other two images are the actual article about our Burbank Christmas display.
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HOME AND GARDENS TV SPECIAL FOR 2003! |
We were very excited when Home and Garden's Television contacted us in 2003 to do a special on our holiday display for their television special "Extreme Christmas - Bigger and Brighter" that aired on the dates below:
This program was re-played on Friday, November 26th, 2004 - and was rerun again on Christmas Day, 2004 at 2 PM. In fact, HGTV ran the show for 2005 through 2008 during the holiday seasons.
For this special, HGTV featured eight (8) homes in the United States for this special program. Here is a link to their website announcement of this special program and great write-ups on our Christmas display in beautiful downtown Burbank and the other seven homes featured in their program. To watch the video, click on the AIR TIMES image above.
This was the schedule for the special presentation in 2004. It was shown on Christmas Day at 2 PM.
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NEW FOR 2003!!!! |
For 2003, we introduced our newest MAJOR animated attraction in several years - our animated 8' tall double-hammer ride! This attraction had one of the most complex gear drive systems of all of our animations, not to mention the specialized electronics designed to operate the independent lights on each of the long rotating arms that support the cages for the riders. The new double-hammer attraction was a huge hit with the visitors in 2003! You can view it (along with the other new 2003 attractions) on the Photos web page. I gave this attraction to our oldest son, David and his wife, Lisa, who proudly featured it in their display. We gave him most of our digital display attractions in 2009, and now, the double-hammer has returned home and will be featured in our 2009 display!
We also featured for the first time Nemo's Fish tank. David and Lisa came up with the concept. David focused on its construction and animation while Lisa used her artistic skills in painting the colorful fish. The tank had a black light that really brought the animated fish to life! A rotating mirror ball made the water appear to be moving with air bubbles.
2003 also featured the introduction of our own designed and built electronic sequencing unit that controls the large NOEL sign on the roof to this day. Finally, we added some new characters, two 4-channel digital light controllers, more lights and other enhancements to the already large animated Christmas display!
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2002 DISPLAY HIGHLIGHTS |
2002 was a great year for our display - the largest one we had ever assembled to that point in time. We enjoyed sharing our animated 2002 Norton's Winter Wonderland Christmas Display with the thousands of visitors, with the television viewing audience (we had great media coverage in 2002) and with the virtual community.
In 2002, we also had a great write-up in the Daily News. Click on the newspaper below to read the article about our Christmas display (and the great 2002 display of our former neighbor, Keith LaPrath).
We also had extensive television coverage. If you missed the CBS-2, NBC-4, KCAL-9 news or the CBS Early Show coverage, you are in luck! We have captured their live television broadcasts!
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2002 ADDITIONS TO THE DISPLAY |
During the holiday season, visitors always ask us what we have added new for that year. In 2002, we created a special web page to provide this information for that season.
If you click on "Recent Additions to the Display" you will see what we added for 2002. One of our major additions for 2002 was all of our new train track. We also added a new operating train crossing gate, more lights, some new characters and other small decorations.
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MORE HISTORY OF THE DISPLAY |
For over 40 years, our entire family has been creating elaborate animated home-made Christmas displays. We built our first Christmas display in 1970 at our other home in Burbank. This display featured
a small number of lawn decorations and lights. With each new season, we added more lights and decorations.As the family grew, so did the display! Our children, their wives and grandchildren contribute their time and labor to help my wife and I with this annual project. As our Christmas display has grown, so has the demand for electricity increased as well. Starting with the 2003 Christmas display, with the new major attractions of the double-hammer and Nemo's fish tank, we increased the power to eight 20-amp circuits! Yikes! The 2004 display used even more electricity! 2009 - with the combination of the analog AND digital technology, may break the record for power consumption!
As you can see from the pictures on the pages of this web site, our Christmas displays take up our entire front yard and almost all of our roof! We have just about reached the point where we have no more room - or power capacity - to add anything else!
We are frequently asked just how long it took us to put this massive holiday display together. In 2002, we began assembling the display on November 1st and finished on December 4th. We began assembling our 2003 Christmas display also on November 1st. We completed it on December 5th - just in time for filming by HGTV. For 2004, we began the display's assembly on November 1st as well, and finished on December 3rd.
Our new 2009 display - and in fact all of our displays from 2009 through 2013- took 5 weeks to assemble (we began 11/1 and will go live early December). Of course, we actually started weeks before that in the back yard and garage working on attractions.
As you can imagine, the time - and expense - required to create and operate this display is phenomenal. Why do we do it year after year? The answer is really pretty simple. The joy we see in the faces of the thousands of visitors who crowd our block to view and enjoy it makes the hundreds of hours of our time and the cost worthwhile!
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PICTURES OF THE DISPLAY IN PAST YEARS |
Below are pictures of our Christmas displays for 2002, 2001 and 2000. We think you will agree with our characterization of the Christmas display as "elaborate."
* 2002 DISPLAY *
* 2001 DISPLAY *
* 2000 DISPLAY *
And this is when our display started in 1970!
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Going back further in time, here is a snapshot taken in 1965 when Dick (me) was still in college living at home. Our family's holiday tradition was making a tumbleweed snowman. Mom, dad and I would trek out to the desert (a long drive in those days...) to find three different sizes of tumbleweeds. We would put them in the car and head back to Eagle Rock (where we lived). Dad would use a Kirby vacuum with the paint sprayer attachment to paint the tumbleweeds white. Here is a picture of our finished snowman standing proud in front of our Eagle Rock home.
There is a funny story about these tumbleweeds! One year after returning home from the desert, dad set up the tumbleweeds in the front yard and loaded the Kirby paint sprayer attachment with white paint (all paint was oil-based enamel in those days - latex had not been invented). He turned on the vacuum and pointed the sprayer at the snowman. Nothing came out of the sprayer, but dad could see the paint level going down in the bottle! Yikes - he suddenly realized that he had hooked the hose up to the wrong side of the vacuum! He was sucking the white enamel paint into the fan and bag of the Kirby (they were - and still are - expensive vacuums)! What a mess he had to clean up!
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LARGE-SCALE ANIMATION MADE THIS DISPLAY UNIQUE |
What makes our analog holiday display so special and unique is our extensive use of animation of large attractions.
Just like the train above, our train's wheels and connecting arms move. It even smokes and has its own sound system that plays the sounds of a steam whistle and the classic chug-chug of the locomotive. The original train is on display at a neighbor's home on Catalina Street (1 block west of our street - Florence - and 1 block south of our home - on the other side of Verdugo Avenue). We enjoy driving by and seeing our former train in operation!!
The display features lots of animation! The train signals operate; the hammer's arms spin in opposite directions - meeting at the top and bottom of their travel; the merry-go-round turns while the horses move up and down; the Ferris wheel rotates; the swings fly through the air; the plane's propeller spins and its wings rock as Snoopy comes in for a landing- and the list goes on.
When we announced to neighbors and family that we are bringing back the original display in 2009, they unanimously agreed that they really missed the analog display and are so pleased that it is returning!
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PICTURES, PICTURES AND MORE PICTURES |
Check out the photo gallery for additional pictures of our holiday displays. We created some MPEG movies for you to enjoy of our animated attractions!
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MUSIC "MIDI" FILES FOR DOWNLOADING |
On the Music page, we have included links to about three dozen great Christmas midi songs for your enjoyment. To hear them, you will need Windows Media or a compatible midi player.
Also, you can save these midi files to your hard disk for playing later. Just right-click on the song you want to download on the MUSIC page, and then left-click "save target as" - and select your target folder where you want to save the file on your hard drive. If you have a CD-RW drive, you can create an audio CD to play them in your audio system.
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HOW TO FIND THE DISPLAY |
Following is a link to a map
to assist you in finding our display (of course, drive here only when it is up and operational). We are located at 513 North Florence Street, Burbank, California. We are between the 134 and I-5 freeways in the heart of Magnolia Park. Just look for the glow in the sky!With this major Christmas display and Keith LaPrath's Winter Snowland up the street, parking on our block has always been a challenge. We tend to get more visitors on weekends, so viewing the display during the week is advisable. If you are unable to find a place to park on Florence, there usually is parking available on Clark Street or Verdugo Avenue. Both streets are a short walk from the Christmas displays. There are other beautiful displays this year on the block as well.
As Christmas Eve approaches, our block's
sidewalks are usually packed with people walking to get a closer look at both
displays. A number of visitors have compared our
block to the crowds of Universal's City Walk (which is just about 3 miles from
our home)!
This is important! If it is raining, or rain is
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FAQs (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS) |
Every year, we always received a lot of questions from visitors
about the holiday display. Several years ago, we added a scrolling message board.
It used to be on top of the train station. Now, it is on the roof just
about our large picture window featuring the revolving Christmas tree. For our on-line visitors, we have added a page on this site that lists the
frequently asked questions with their answers.
You can click the
FAQ page
link to read them.
Note:
When you have finished reading the FAQ's, you can either use the back button on your browser to return to this
place on our home page, or click on the links at the top of the FAQ page to return here
- or to visit other pages on this site.
Just for the Kids!
Hey boys and girls! Santa now has E-mail at the North Pole, and has asked us to help children who visit our page by providing a spot on our website for them to send him their wish-list! So, here is your chance to tell Santa what you are hoping he will bring you for Christmas!
Warm up those fingers (or ask for help from your mommy, daddy, brother, sister
or a friend) and send Santa an E-mail telling him what you would like him to put
in this toy sack just for you!! Just click on the picture of Santa reading his E-mail!
Write to him soon!
OK, it is now time for you to pour your favorite drink, grab a snack and sit back to enjoy the videos, pictures and the great music.
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PAST SPONSORS FOR OUR DISPLAY |
Putting on this annual show was a huge undertaking. Hundreds of hours were spent in the design of the attractions, procuring components, assembling, testing, and monitoring its operation during the holidays. The costs incurred in building such a display were significant. We were able to continue enhancing and sharing this display because of the generosity of sponsors who contributed towards our costs, as well as visitors who experienced the joy of seeing the display in person, and wished to help us with a small donation to keep it going. Our power bill (as you might imagine) took a HUGE jump during the holiday season because of the 90+amps this display required.
In recognition of their generosity, I am proud to list the many sponsors of our past display and encourage visitors to this website to consider these companies when seeking a source for services or products that they offer.
We extend our appreciation to and acknowledge these great companies and individuals below:
OUR VALUED SPONSORS
We would like to thank Jon's Window and Awning of Burbank for their contribution of labor in the manufacturing of the gorgeous red canvas top for our Merry-Go-Round. I first met Jon about 25 years ago when his company installed a beautiful patio cover. It still looks like the day it was installed. Their quality of construction is evidenced by the fact that it withstood the tremendous high winds we had in December 2011!
Our original Merry-go-round cover that my wife made in the mid-80's needed desperate replacement. We met with Connie at Jon's shop on Magnolia Blvd in Burbank and gave her the specs on what we needed done. We had the material but needed a company with the expertise in working with canvas to actually cut out and sew this challenging cover. This was a rush deal as we had an impending deadline for our go-live date.
Jon and Connie arranged to have one of their expert seamstresses tackle the project on a rush basis. We picked it up 4 days later on Friday, December 2nd and raced home to put it on. Wow - Anna (the seamstress who completed our project) did a beautiful job - it fit perfectly.
Jon contributed the labor to make this cover for us in recognition of the many years he and his family have enjoyed the display. We deeply appreciate his generous contribution - and also Connie's significant role in getting this project completed so quickly! We hope you can see the beautiful cover in person.
We ask that if you have needs for windows, awnings or any other product that Jon's company offers, please give him or Connie a call. From my personal experience, as well as from my neighbor's praise about the beautiful awnings Jon made for them, their work is simply outstanding.
We'd like to acknowledge FULLER MANUFACTURING, INC that contributes material in helping us create our display, and encourage you to consider this company as a source for custom electronic or audio products.
| Fuller Manufacturing, Inc 315 South Flower Street, Suite #102 Burbank, CA 91502 (818) 238-9911 Fuller Mfg designs and manufactures custom products for the entertainment and other industries. They are heavy into secured telecommunications. They also developed and manufacture a very unique product called Taperwire - ideal for getting power and audio signals from one point to another. It is razor thin, can stick on a wall and be painted! They generously contributed cable for our digital trunk lines and other components needed for our display. Here are links to their webpages: http://www.fullermanufacturing.com/index.htm http://www.taperwire.com/ |
We wish to thank Dan Coplan for some great aerial photography of our 2017 display. Dan has a wealth of experience in aerial photography and gave us some great footage that we will be using for our website. If you need any aerial photography of your properties, displays, events, etc, I give Dan my highest recommendation. Here is a link to his website.
Thanks, Dan, for a job well done!
We would like to acknowledge the generous contribution by AMERICAN LOGOMOTIONS, INC:
(http://www.yourneonlogo.com/) for donating a beautiful animated neon flag for our display!
Please visit their website for their other beautiful animated neon products!
Bodine gear motors are used to power our Ferris wheel, the double-hammer and the flying swings attractions. These motors are unbeatable for quality and durability. They are available in many different configurations to fit just about any application you need. We appreciated their help, as well as a donation from their distributor in the area - Minarik Corporation.
We wish to thank Lonnie and the company for whom he works, Circulating Air, Inc, for their generous contribution of time and materials for our new North Pole Express train's boiler! Their craftsmanship is simply outstanding! I recommend you consider Circulating Air for your needs involving:
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Window Decorations / Detail on North Pole Express Train
I ran across Peggy and Lisa decorating the window and door of my favorite barber shop (Phil's Barber Salon - Phil has my vote for being the greatest barber in Burbank) on Alameda Street in Burbank during December 2010. I asked if they did residences, and they did. We set up an appointment, and they came over on December 9, 2010 - and did a fantastic job in decorating our front windows and adding detail to our train. Here are a couple of images of their work on our 2010 display:
Well, in 2011, we completed our train station - and it needed some fancy trimming. So, we invited Peggy and Lisa to come over and doll up our windows and the train station. Wow - check it out! Lisa and her mom. Peggy, are posing with their great creation! The windows came out fantastic as well! Thanks to you both for adding your creative talents to our annual display!
Here they are - back for 2014 in December adding their special touches to the display!!!
Here is their contact information if you need some outstanding decorating on your windows or any of your decorations!
Once again, we welcome sponsors who would like to contribute their support in helping us share this display year after year with the local community and others around the world who visit our website. In exchange, we will provide you with acknowledgement on this very popular and frequently visited web site!
In getting our 2018 display set up, we had help from our sons, daughter-in-law (Lisa - who did a significant amount of painting for us!!), our son's (and our) long time friend - Dave Coss - and our grandson Stephen. Keith also helped us with specific tasks. Their assistance was very appreciated - we would not tackle this display without help.
For our 2017 season, our sons (David and Chris), granddaughter (Kristin), Adam (a senior at Burbank High who helped us last year) have been a huge help. Our daughter-in-law, Lisa, is working on painting to refresh some of our wooden characters, as well as to paint some new ones David cut out to add to the display! Our granddaughter, Hannah, helped Pam putting the elves and toys in the Toy Shop!
For our 2016 season, we had help from our two sons (David and Chris), our grandson, Stephen, our other grandkids, and a really cool student from Burbank High - Adam - who helped us with the set-up and tear down. Keith LaPrath - who has a gorgeous display up the block from us (it is not operating for 2016 - he took a break this year, but tells me he will be back next year!) also helped with parts of it.
For 2015, we again had help from our two sons (David and Chris), along with our daughter-in-law, Lisa (who did some painting for us of the merry-go-round horses), our grandson, Stephen and our granddaughter, Kristin, and other family members as they had time. Without their help, this display would not have been set up! Our neighbor and dear friend, Keith LaPrath, also gave us a hand for a number of tasks. Thanks, Keith!
Our grandsons, Stephen and Devin, were really a big help to us for 2014's display. Our granddaughter, Kristin, also was a big help for our 2014 display - spending a day with us to get the big items out of storage, and to assemble them. Thanks, Kristin!
Our sons - David and Chris - help us each year in the set up and dismantling of our display. We so appreciate their help as this is a major project we undertake each year! We also had Lisa (our daughter-in-law) helping us in the tear down for 2014. Thanks a bunch, Lisa, for your help as well! I should note that our other grandkids - and our daughter, Debbie, do give us a hand when we need them.
Our next door neighbor, Wilfred - whose home next door is nicely decorated (with a beautiful window display created by his wife, Judy!) comes to my rescue during the season when he sees me needing an extra hand. He and Judy have been such great neighbors - we are so fortunate to have them next door!
We would like to also thank the thousands of visitors who have stopped by and enjoyed the display - and all of those who make a small donation to help us deal with the annual cost for new attractions and the power bill to run this display each year! Without your generosity, we would not be able to do this!
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GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS!!! |
Finally, we would love to hear from you and what you thought of our website. We are always looking for ways to make it better, so any suggestions would be most appreciated. Just click on the wreath below to drop us a line. You can also leave your comments in the guest book (the link is near the top of this home page).
Dick Norton
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year from
our home to yours!
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