Patch Catches up with Lindenhurst Deck the House Finalist

Many Lindenhurst residents enjoy decorating their homes for the holidays. But one Lindenhurst family has taken Christmas decorations to a whole new level.

The Alvarados - Lisa, her husband, Dave, and their two sons, Anthony and Vincent - not only turned their home into a beacon of holiday spirit this year, but also into a way to raise money for the March of Dimes.

On top of that, Lisa entered her home on Heathcote Road into Patch's , and it made it into the the finalists. And if it wins, then the .

(To vote go to DecktheHouse.Patch.com. Deadline is January 8 at midnight EST.)

Lindenhurst Patch got a chance to speak with Lisa about how their passion for holiday decorations has evolved over the years.

The Alvarados started decorating their home when they first moved in 14 years ago with a few strings of lights. After that it's become bigger every year, Lisa said, noting that they add about $1,000 worth of decorations each year.

They started adding blow-ups, toy soldiers, candy canes, wreaths, stars, a Season Greetings sign and always more lights. And now the entire front of the home is decorated with strings of lights that are exactly two inches apart to keep the focus on the house.

"My husband loved Christmas since he was a kid with his parents, and he always wanted to do something like this when he grew up," Lisa said. "He gets so excited when he sees people stop and look at the house."

The process begins each year the day after Halloween, and the whole family participates in preparing the house for the December 10 lighting, which coincides with her mother-in-law's birthday.

But it's her husband that spends most of the time putting up the decorations. He starts with the roof and the lights and works his way down so that as the weather turns colder, he can stay on the ground. He also figures out the wiring each year.

"This year, we turned off from the garage, then from the front of the house, and then there were four switches," she said, noting that since they began decorating, they added six circuit breakers to the two existing that they specifically dedicated to handling the holiday decorations.

So many circuit breakers and lights might cause a person's electric bill to spike at the holidays. But Lisa said that her family is on a monthly LIPA budget plan.

"We pay $397 a month. I'm afraid to look at what it actually is for December, but I know LIPA loves us," she said, laughing and noting that the family joke is wondering whether or not the house could be seen from space.

That's a question that could only be answered by NASA, but the decorated house has surely been seen by many a resident since the lights stay on for a whole month.

"We turn them on at dark, and leave them on until about midnight," she said. "And the blow-ups stay on all day because my husband wants to give people something to look at during the day."

And the family's neighbors don't mind, she said, adding with a smile, "They've said, 'Good, we don't have to do anything.'"

All for a Good Cause
The Alvarados love the attention the home has garnered over the years. This year, in addition to making it to the Top 24 in Patch's Deck the House Contest, their home was also written up in Newsday. She believes it all helped create a bit more traffic and helped raise some money for March of Dimes.

This is the first year the Alvarados have used their home's decorations to help raise money for the charity, with which the family is very familiar.

Her and her husband have ridden in the annual Bikers for Babies motorcycle ride that Dee Snider of Twisted Sister organizes to raise money for March of Dimes. Her husband and her five-year-old son are also huge fans of Twisted Sister, and the family has a connection to Snider through a mutal friend.

The Alvarados even synchronized their holiday lights to Twisted Sister's Twisted Christmas album. Back in September Lisa's husband got the chance to show Snider the video of their house with the lights synched to the album.

He got a kick out of it, Lisa said, and after mentioning they'd like to raise money for the charity, it was all set. The couple set up a locked mailbox with March of Dimes logos, and Lisa emptied it every night into a jar.

After the holidays she sent all of the modest proceeds in a check to March of Dimes, which is something they'll continue to do, Lisa said.

With all of the attention also comes some pressure to be bigger and better for next year. But don't worry; the Alvarados are already thinking about that.

"We want to decorate the sides of the house the same way as the front with strings of lights, and we want to computerize the music we have," she said.

Editor's Note: Remember, be sure to vote for the Alvarados house in by logging onto DecktheHouse.Patch.com. Deadline is January 8 at midnight EST. Your vote could mean $100,000 for Lindenhurst Schools!