’Tis the season for holiday entertainment, and two Warrenton-area residents say they’re happy their annual Christmas light show can bring joy when so much else has been canceled.

For more than a decade, Paul and Julie Vogler have set up a light display on and around their house on Cannonball Lane, with features that flash and change color in time with music. Songs are broadcast on a small radio transmitter, so visitors can listen and watch from the warmth of their vehicles. Each year, they invite anyone to come out and enjoy the free “Lights on Cannonball” show.

The light show can be seen each evening from 6-9 p.m.

New this year is a tree-shaped network of lights that displays moving images like the Grinch, Snoopy and Santa, which move along with each song.

“It’s the number-one thing this year. Everybody’s raving about the tree,” Paul Vogler told The Record with a chuckle.

Paul is the front runner for the light show, programming the display and planning what to add each year. He and Julie said they spend weeks each year getting the lights set up, primarily because they simply love doing it. They also enjoy seeing happy families come out to visit.

“We’ve had some kids get out there and bounce around dancing,” Paul said.

“We get a kick out of it for sure,” Julie added.

Not content to simply set the display and forget about it, Paul goes out to greet and bring candy canes to folks he sees outside. With his jolly appearance, white beard and red Christmas hat, children often mistake Paul for another well-known gentleman who brings Christmas cheer.

Visiting the light show has even become a Christmas tradition for some families.

“We come here every year. We missed you last year,” one visitor told Vogler, as her children watched images for “A Holly Jolly Christmas” flash across the tree-shaped light display.

“Yeah, we had some technical difficulties,” Vogler commented, saying a couple issues had prevented the 2019 light display.

“People love it. We get asked throughout the year, ‘Is Paul going to have his lights this year?’ They’re asking about it in April!” Julie commented. “People look forward to it every year.”

They said this has been a particularly busy year. They estimate they’ve given out at least 200 candy canes.

How it’s done

Paul Vogler has worked several technical jobs in his life as a radio and machinery repairman and electrician.

He said he became interested in doing a home light show with music after seeing a video shared online in 2005. Around 2009, he and Julie got their first light show set up, and have grown and upgraded it most years since then.

“You’d be surprised how many people can dive into it. There’s (online) forums you can go to for it,” Vogler said of the hobby.

The network of Christmas lights is connected by circuits to Paul’s home computer. He uses a free, downloadable program called xLights to preprogram when the lights will turn on and off or change colors based on the music. For the images on the tree of lights, Paul purchases premade sequences for the program.

“I’ve sunk a little money into it,” Paul said. “I’ve had several people try to give me money, and I said, ‘Nah, I’m doing this for the smiles.’”