Next in a series: Dallas-Fort Worth neighborhoods celebrate the holidays with light displays like no other. We’re presenting neighborhoods individually this year, so let us know if you know of a neighborhood that needs to be showcased. Nominate a neighborhood in an email. Here’s the series so far.
Neighborhood: Trail Creek Drive, Fort Worth.
Where: 4941 Trail Creek Drive, Fort Worth. Enter off Ray White Road, turn north onto Bear Hollow Drive and turn east on Trail Creek Drive.
What makes it special: This light show is a solo act — a single house decorated by a single family. But, oh what a spectacle 60,000 LED lights in an animated display can be. For five years, the Nelson family — Knick, Diane, and sons Cody and Kyle — have treated the community to a coordinated show of colorful lights keeping time to the holiday favorites. “It’s a family thing we all do together,” said Knick, claiming he can get the custom-built show displayed in a weekend. Tune into local station 99.9 FM, and listen while the lights dance, swirl, and jiggle. Light site-seers are welcome to park the car down the street, then dance on the sidewalk for a show more than 30 minutes long with more than a dozen holiday tunes and lots of pixels. Just don’t touch the lights or get on the lawn … accident prevention caution.
What: The single-house light show happened when Knick Nelson’s hobby grew into an obsession. The self-proclaimed computer geek works on the show yearly because he loves it. Having a house to adorn as his imagination saw fit was a dream come true for someone who used to beg his parents to decorate the family home. “It grew out of a love of holiday lighting and a passion for technology,” Knick said. Now he custom builds the holiday exhibition featuring some 16,000 colors and traffic stoppers. “We love it having it. There’s nothing better than having kids come out and dance in the street.” There’s no end in sight, either. “Not as they still have electricity,” Knick said. “If we stop, it will not be my choice.”
When: 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 5:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 5:30 to midnight Dec. 31.
