Nolan Billman's house has 30,000 lights, give or take

MOSES LAKE - There are so many Christmas lights in Nolan Billman's yard that he can't really count them. He has to make an estimate.

He pegged it at 30,000, give or take a string or two. "I don't think it's over. I think it's just slightly under," he said. There are lights around the eaves of his house and garage at 14362 Stratford Rd., near Moses Lake, and on all the trees and bushes in the yard, and lighted figures, deer and trees and candy canes among others, in the yard. Nobody who drives down Stratford Road will miss it.

It was a family project when his children were little, he said, one that started out with one or two strings in young trees around the property and the whole thing - trees, kids and the number of lights - grew from there.

"He'd put up a few stings, and the kids would say, 'Can you put up more, Daddy?'" said Billman's wife Dena.

Nolan and Dena Billman have five children, and their son Delbert was the one who really got into helping with the lights, Nolan said. As an adult Delbert moved out of the area, and Nolan put the lights away, for seven years. But Delbert will be home right after Christmas, and the lights are back on the trees, bushes and house.

Back when his children were little Billman would get busy in mid-November, and have all the lights in place and turned on by Thanksgiving. They'd stay on every night right through New Year's Day, and be on all night on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately that got a little expensive as the displays got bigger. "I think it (the electric bill) was $670 one year," Dena Billman said.

So things have been trimmed back. The lights come on around Dec. 1, from about 6 to 10 p.m. each night, and will be on through Christmas Day, maybe through New Year's. They will be on all night Christmas eve, Billman said.

He's also replaced a lot of his old lights with LEDs, and plans to replace some every year, he said. "I've learned how to regulate," he said.

The lights have always been popular, drawing people from all the basin; people from Spokane have knocked on his door and said they changed their route to Moses Lake so they could drive by and see the lights, he said. Local residents have brought visiting family members to take a look. "It's been fun," he said.

The lights are back on, and some of the people that missed them have noticed. "It's been kind of fun having people recognize we're (having a light display) again," he said.

The Billman grandchildren like it too. "They just think it's absolutely cool," Nolan said.

And he's already making plans, at least tentative plans, for Christmas 2013. "Next year I'm hoping to have them automated to music. I'm still debating about that one."