HELENA – A house in the Helena Valley is catching the eyes of many this holiday season. For the eighth year in a row, 20-year-old Thomas Reguin and his family have decked out their ranch style home into a festive wonderland complete with 56,000 multi-colored lights, snowman cut-outs and reels of extension cords.
“First year we only had about 5,000 thousand lights or so. Hardly anything was out in the yard and it was pretty small compared to what we have now,” Reguin said.
Now, the Lake Helena Light show attracts countless visitors during the months of November and December. The light show is timed to music that onlookers can listen to from their car radios.
Reguin was barely a teenager when he first had the idea for the show after watching a video on YouTube. Now, it’s a Christmas tradition for many.
“I get people talking about how this is their third time coming back and that their kids look forward to it,” Reguin said.
Reguin has even inspired others to follow in his footsteps.
“Couple years ago I had a kid tell me that he looked up to me and he wanted to do this when he was older,” Reguin said.
The light show took over a month to build, and each year the show incorporates more features. Reguin, who taught himself the computer program to run the lights and the music, can spend upwards of a month programming one single song.
When neighbors began gathering outside the Reguin’s house years ago to watch the show, Thomas’s father Patrick said he liked the response.
“I really enjoy it. It’s nice to see people come out on a more regular basis to come out every year or multiple times a year to bring other people out with them to enjoy the show,” Patrick Reguin said
The light show runs every night through December 30 at Reguin’s home at 5785 South View Drive. You can catch the show Sunday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday to Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. There are also special extended hours from Friday December 21 to December 25. The show is free, but donations are accepted for God’s Love in Helena.
