Ridgeline Home Lights Up for Christmas

Nisqually Valley News
Posted 12/19/14

It starts the day after Halloween and doesn’t end until nine weeks later when the lights finally go out on the first day of the new year.

Brian Flott and his family are the winners of the …

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Ridgeline Home Lights Up for Christmas

Posted

It starts the day after Halloween and doesn’t end until nine weeks later when the lights finally go out on the first day of the new year.

Brian Flott and his family are the winners of the Nisqually Valley News’ home holiday decorating contest. The home, just a block before Ridgeline Middle School in Yelm at 15139 Carter Loop SE, is lit up with about 60,000 lights. The power bill during the month of December quadruples.

The effort is a total family affair, with Brian, his wife Anna, Sabrina, 19, Rebecca, 14, Zakary, 12, and even Brianna, 22 and away at college, putting in the hours it takes to first put up, then maintain, and eventually put away the holiday display.

Brian is an environmental technician for the Federal Aviation Administration out of Auburn, where he is, well, in charge of keeping the lights on if there is a power disruption. He makes all of the decorations by hand.

Brian and Anna have been doing the home decorations for the past 25 years. They started small, and it just seemed to grow each year. The lights start to go up the day after Halloween. The family spends just about every weekday evening and weekends working the home.

“When it is all said and done, it is awesome,” Anna said.



New this year is a purple ribbon loop above the front door, a nod to the fundraiser Relay for Life, which raises money in the fight against cancer. Anna is a captain for a Relay for Life team.

On the first Saturday in December, the family hosts a potluck for friends and family and, most important, the flipping of the switch. Brian used eight different fuse breakers all through one loop timer. He actually turns on one switch and the lights go from dark to bright.

Also new this year is an addition to the fun by the Flott’s next door neighbor, who simply put up in big bright lights, “DITTO,” with an arrow pointing next door.

“I love what he did over there,” Brian said, in regards to his neighbor.

The judging for the contest was done by FFA students from Yelm Middle School last week. The Flott’s home wasn’t even on the list to visit, but the students and teacher Darla Sheppard decided to take a trip to the Ridgeline community, which is known for its holiday yard displays. When they saw the Flott’s efforts and the neighbor with the “DITTO,” it sealed the judging.

“The kids said, ‘What? That is awesome,’” Sheppard said. “They loved everything lit up, but what really grabbed them was the house next door that said ‘DITTO.’ That and the lights lit up the whole street.”