The Kris Kringle of Christmas light displays is swapping out his usual flashy front yard for a more sombre tribute this week.
Trevor Allen, the creator of Allen Family Lights holiday shows in Regina’s northwest, manufactured an intricate Remembrance Day-themed display to honour Canadian troops.
“With COVID-19, there aren’t many (Remembrance Day) services happening,” Allen said.
“I thought I could do something with my lightshow to actually honour the troops and those who have fought.”
The display uses 70,000 red and white lights that are programmed to two songs, lighting up his homemade props like Canadian flags.
Commemorative video montages play along on two outdoor screens.
“It’s not your standard light show that I put on,” he said.
“I thought that would be somewhat disrespectful. But I’m hoping people will stop by and use this as an opportunity to pay their tributes.”
This is the first year Allen has done a display for Remembrance Day.
He said the nicer-than-normal weather at the start of the month allowed him an early start on his Christmas display, while giving him a chance to program something new.
“I’ve added more components for Christmas, so I’m using a lot of those (for Remembrance Day). For Christmas, I still have a few more things I’ll be bringing out.”
While he said “it didn’t take too much time” to put it together by his standards, it still took five days to prepare for the two-day show.
The light display runs Tuesday and Wednesday night.