JACKSON – The Cooks can really cook when it comes to the holidays and it has nothing to do with food.
Michael and Carol Cook have been serving up a light show that has left residents and visitors spellbound for more than a decade. They have literally brightened up the season by lighting up the exterior of their 1 Carlson Court home.
Their special tradition always begins on the weekend after Thanksgiving but preparation for it is a yearlong process. Their display serves as a benefit for charity, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“We truly love doing the show. We have more lights this year. We are close to 8,000 lights. We have added more props to the show. Every year we try to add something,” Michael Cook said. “Every year we expand it and we know what we are adding next year already.”
The event went live on November 25. Cook is often seen sporting his orange Santa cap as he greets those who pass by. He gives out multi-flavored candy canes as a means of saying hello and thank you for stopping by. He also accepts donations made for multiple sclerosis research.
His cap includes the letters MS and it was presented to him by a representative of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “Orange is the color for the cause of curing MS,” he said.
“We have raised a little over $54,400 so far cumulatively over the years we’ve been doing this but we are hoping by the end of this year that we will break the $60,000 mark for the national MS society. That really would be cool,” he added.
“My stepson was diagnosed with juvenile MS at the age of 13. They say that between 5,000-11,000 kids have MS. It is rare that they are diagnosed that young. His first symptom was that he went blind in his left eye. He got the vision back after some treatments,” he said.
The show has featured four singing trees, a 20-foot spiral tree and a 1,008-bulb pixel matrix “which we can do imaging with,” Cook said.
“This year we have a couple of new songs. Some of the songs that we have had before but we revamped them a little bit with some props and then we have a couple of new songs as well,” he said.
“In order to ‘listen to our lights’ your radio needs to be tuned to FM100.9,” he said. “All the lights are synchronized to music. The free show will run nightly from 6 -10 p.m. Sunday – Thursday and 6-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The holiday house will run through New Year’s night.
“We have heard many stories over the years about how our show has brought Christmas spirit to those visiting and watching it,” he said. “It warms us when we are told that we have become part of someone’s Christmas tradition. All the hard work is worth it when the kids tell us how much they love the show or give us handmade Christmas cards.”
“We started the building and working process during the summer and we began decorating at the end of October so that way we avoid having to decorate in any bad weather that may come up,” he added.
More information can be found at facebook.com/cookschristmasnj
