Franklin Square holiday light show raises money for St. Jude’s

Robert Destefano, a lifelong Franklin Square resident, has hosted a holiday light show adorned with holiday figurines galore and filled with music for the past seven years. This year’s show was a bit different though, as the light of his late father Neil Destefano kept his Christmas spirit alive.

When Neil died of throat cancer in August at 85 years old, Robert had been slowed down in his efforts to set up his annual Christmas display. However, his father’s wish before he died kept Robert’s 2023 display alive.

“The night he passed he said to me and my mother in the hospital, ‘God forbid anything happens to me,’ and I told him, ‘Nothing’s happening to you,’” Robert said. “He said, ‘You better do your Christmas display. You do it for the kids with cancer and I have cancer, and you do it for all of the kids that come and see it every year. They’re looking forward to this.’”

While seeing how the light show touches the community each year keeps Robert invested in the project — it is not the only thing that continues to inspire him.

Each year, Robert sets up a mailbox at the end of his driveway for people to donate money to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. So far this year, he has raised around $3,000 for St. Jude.

The inspiration for choosing this charity came from his mother, who has donated to the St. Jude for years now. This year, cancer struck closer to home when his father died.

“This is the closest it’s ever hit home with my father,” Robert said.

Robert begins setting up the holiday light extravaganza in September, meticulously laying out decorations over the course of three months.

The whole display has cost Robert more than $100,000 as he’s added more decorations each year. The annual project is powered by a 10,000-watt generator Robert keeps in his backyard. He says people can’t even hear the generator over the music playing when the lights are on.

“People always ask, that’s the first thing ‘How much is your electric bill?’” he said. “Those are the two comments I get the most, ‘How much is your electric bill? And where do you store this?’”

He stores all of the decorations in a walk-up storage unit in his garage during the year.

Community members can visit the festive show at 1051 Harrow Road in Franklin Square between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. on weekdays and between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. on weekends through Jan. 6.

For anyone who is interested in visiting the display but isn’t able to make it there by Jan. 6, Robert said that he can be reached through Facebook Messenger at Robert Destefano with requests to turn on the lights if weather permits.

The light show has drawn the attention of not only the Franklin Square community, but also the interest of ABCs holiday light show program “The Great Christmas Light Fight.” This, combined with the community’s continued support, will make next year’s display even larger.

Robert is known for his ground décor that covers his lawn, but for next year’s display, he plans to go big. He wants to add more lights onto his house and even put lights in his backyard.

“It’s like I see all of these people that tell me ‘Wow this looks amazing’ and now I feel like next year I have to raise my bar for another bigger display,” he said. “So that’s what it easily comes down to, why it makes me want to push it. And seeing the money that people donate towards St. Jude every year and it does get bigger, makes me want to make it get bigger every year.”