Santa’s mailbox shines bright alongside Pierrefonds’ Boischatel light show

A sure sign that Christmas has arrived in Pierrefonds is the launch of the well-known Boischatel Street light show.

For the last six years, homeowner and self-proclaimed “Christmas Nut” Robert Wright has dazzled onlookers with a show of flickering Christmas lights to the tune of popular music.

This year’s show will kick off on Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. and will run until the end of December.

The labour of love takes a total of 400 hours and more than 8,000 individual lights.

“It’s a lot of work, but this is what I truly enjoy. It’s something I think about from January to the end of the year,” Wright said.

While the flashing lights are a fan favourite in the community, for the last three years, a bright red mailbox has been taking away some of the shine.

Known as Santa’s mailbox, the feature is a place where children in the community can come with their Christmas wish list in hand to send to the North Pole.

Wright came up with the idea when his son wanted a more personal way to send his list to Santa instead of going through Canada Post.

“It’s no longer a mailbox, it’s just a mail slot — it felt a little cold for him,” Wright said.

“So we sent a letter to ask if we could install a mailbox ourselves.”

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The mailbox now receives about 100 letters a year. All you need to do is get your wish list in with a return address and a name before Dec. 15, and the big man will answer.

Wright and his wife respond to each letter individually.

“We hope to get as many letters we can and hope the kids have a magical Christmas,” He said.

Wright hopes to see children attend the light show and send their wish list at the same time.

He says there are hundreds of people who come and watch his musical light show.

Both the programmed show and most of the light fixtures were created by Wright himself.

When it comes to a price tag for this seasonal event, Wright keeps the number close to the vest.

He says brightening up the community makes it worthwhile.

“We do every year because we love seeing kids dance and sing inside their cars,” he said. “It’s something near and dear to my heart. It’s my passion.”