By KEITH GRANT
The Persauds have been decorating their West Market Street home for more than a decade, and it has become a key holiday stopping point for locals and out-of-towners each year.
"Every year it gets a little better," Mr. Persaud said of his annual housework. Once upon a time, the Persauds acted as tourists, themselves, this time of year, traveling throughout the region to see some of the best-decorated homes in New York. Being mere viewers was good enough until the day son Kevin, now a Long Beach High School junior, asked his parents why they couldn't light their own house like the others were.
Ten years later, thousands of fragile light bulbs, a few dozen moving Disney characters -- some imported from Europe -- plus a few reindeer and Santa help put the Persauds' neighborhood in the holiday spirit.
"The kids around here love it," Mr. Persaud said. The work takes about two weeks to complete, but this year the family was, literally, blown off schedule.
"The wind the other day blew all of these right down," Kevin said as he picked strands of red, white and blue lights off the ground, testing each and every individual tiny bulb. Those lights were slated to attach to the roof of the home, descending down to the front fence in the shape of a Christmas tree.
Kevin's mom, Nalini, said that local residents have become so accustomed to the display that when work had not begun a few weeks ago, several passers-by stopped and asked what had happened to it. The family has even had a few year-round visitors.
"A guy came by one time in the middle of summer and asked to see who lived here," Ms. Persaud said. "He said he had always wanted to know who owned the house with all the lights."
The family said police have come to refer to the home as "the little Charlie Brown house," and often come by during December to make sure passing cars pull to the side and traffic does not come to a dead stop. Kevin said the family has never had a problem with fire, noting they are careful to take all precautions. The only problem as they work usually comes in the form of rain.
"The cold is nothing," Kevin said. "But working in the rain is no good. Somebody could get shocked."
This year, the house will be outlined in red lights, and when the front curtains are drawn, the family's well-lit Christmas tree will shine through the display from the living room from sundown to sunrise, right through January.
A few blocks to the west, Greg and Mara Costanini's Laurelton Boulevard home is becoming a Christmas character of its own. This year's 12,000-blub display includes homemade light-up candy canes, and a large plugged-in "Merry Christmas" sign looking out over the street.
Mr. Costantini searched the Internet for some of this year's ideas, he said, before putting in about 10 hours of labor to get the house ready for the holidays.
"Oh, I love it!" he said. The lights are set on a timer so they can entertain a crowd before he even gets home.
Mr. Costantini has been decorating his home for the past five years, but unlike the Persauds, his display rarely reaches beyond the ground level of the house.
"I don't really do the roof," he said. "I'm a little scared of ladders!"
Back at the Persauds, fearless 5-year-old Josh snuck his way to the top of a ladder, practicing for his future role in the work. While theirs is one of the few homes whose electric bills will challenge their heating bills this winter, the Persauds seem to have no intention of backing off the annual project.
"It only comes once a year, so it's worth it," Kevin said.
