ROCK SPRINGS — A home at 830 Ridge Avenue attracts dozens of people each year with a Christmas lights display synchronized to music.
David Halter, the information technology director for the Sweetwater County Combined Communications Joint Powers Board and a former Rock Springs city councilman, has decked his home with a colorful light display every Christmas since 2015, a year after he moved to the street.
“I’ve always wanted to do music-synchronized lights,” Halter said. “I’ve been doing them for nine years.”
He originally started thinking about synchronizing music with a Christmas light display when he lived on Overland Drive, but decided the street was too busy to allow vehicles to stop and enjoy a light show. His inspiration came from a home in Greeley, Colorado known as “The Greeley Griswalds” house that until a few years ago hosted a light display featuring more than 180,000 lights.
Halter’s display isn’t near the number of lights that were used in Greeley, but he admits he’s lost track of how many he has set up. His display used to feature traditional Christmas lights but now involves RGB pixel lights that can display any color. The lights are controlled with light controllers attached to a laptop with software that determines which lights to activate at a given moment.
The lights are manually programmed to match songs Halter broadcasts from an FM transmitter in his basement. He broadcasts a selection of seven songs at 101.1 FM. He said the transmitter’s placement in his basement ensures the signal doesn’t travel too far beyond Elk Street.
“You really have to be on Ridge to hear it,” Halter said.
During the first year he had the light display, the transmitter was on the main floor of his home and was strong enough to be picked up almost anywhere in Rock Springs, a range he thought was too large for what he was doing.
Halter said he tries to keep the whole show between 20 and 30 minutes because he doesn’t want to create congestion on the street. He adds one or two songs to the playlist each year, while taking others off. This year, he added a version of “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to the rotation. For a song that’s two minutes, thirty seconds long, Halter estimates it takes about three or four hours to program the lights.
Halter said a person doesn’t need to learn how to synchronize music to a display to have a display like his. He said kits exist, such as what the Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency uses in its display across from Bunning Park, that allows someone easily set up a display at their home.
Halter has also added to the display over the years, having added a tree, lights to his home’s gutter, and a few spheres. Halter intends to add candy canes to the display, saying he plans to have them ready in time for next year. Halter enjoys adding to the display as it’s something that allows him to work with his hands.
Halter doesn’t think of himself as someone who absolutely love Christmas, but says he enjoys seeing homes lit up for the season. Halter said he still enjoys driving around neighborhoods with his family to look at Christmas lights, though he says he may have spoiled his son with his display as anything that isn’t animated doesn’t catch his attention.
Halter said he wishes more homes in Rock Springs would take on a festive display during the holiday season. He said a number of homes in Green River are well-decorated but doesn’t see as many in Rock Springs taking on that same flair. Halter said he doesn’t mean homes should have massive displays, saying a few homes have tasteful and minimalistic displays using single-color lights and selective lighting and decoration placement. Overall, he said it seems as though fewer homes have exterior decorations thank in the past.
While Halter would like to see more decorations on homes throughout Rock Springs, he said one place he has seen more being displayed is on Ridge Avenue. Prior to living in his current residence, Halter lived on the street while he was growing up. He said more homes on his street now have Christmas decorations on display now than they had when he was younger.
Halter’s display can be seen from 5-9 p.m. on weeknights, with the display being extended to 9:30 p.m. on weekends. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Night, the display ends at 10 p.m. He stops the lighted display after the new year.