Chuck Smith

2012
Christmas Expo 2013
As the new owners of the Christmas Expo, Joyce Perhac with ProShow, Inc. and Janice Blasko from The Abbey Group couldn’t be more excited to express their love of the holiday through this event. They are sisters, who each own their own separate businesses and have collaborated over the past 20 years on projects and events that reflect their passions and are close to their hearts. Joyce is the owner of ProShow, Inc., a meeting and event planning company based in Pittsburgh, PA. She has over 25 years experience in planning events for non-profits, special interest groups and corporate businesses.…
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2012
Music Review
If you hear some new holiday tunes blasting from Santa’s sleigh as he hits your rooftop this Christmas Eve, you have someone to thank. Christmas with Mrs. Claus is a magical holiday music collaboration between Mrs. Claus and Grammy® Nominated family music artist Judy Pancoast. This is truly a match made at the North Pole. Mrs. Claus steps out from the shadow of the big man in red to choose some of her seasonal favorites, old and new. Although Mrs. Claus is content to leave the vocals to Judy, she pops in and out throughout the CD, introducing songs, sharing…
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2012
A ‘Lure’ of Lights
Two years ago, downtown Hayward, Wisconsin was anything but exciting during the holiday season. Main Street was lifeless and the merchants were complaining because no one was shopping. You could find a few Christmas decorations but people didn’t seem to care. There just wasn’t much Christmas spirit in Hayward. Local merchants Jan Beatty and Barb Hand sensed a problem. They were walking down Main Street and knew something needed to be done to liven up their community. Their challenge was they had absolutely no idea what to do or where to turn. Then it happened. Someone emailed Barb a video…
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2012
The Rumor Mill is working overtime
The big man in red gave us a night off. We aimed the satellite dish toward Europe and the TV picked up the grand concert in front of Buckingham Palace celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Wow. The Brits sure know how to have a good time. Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney and plenty of others were on stage and singing the oldies-but-goodies. We were mesmerized by the lights and pyrotechnics on the stage. Every now and then they would show the front of the palace that had become a giant movie screen. Pretty amazing watching the palace…
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2012
Chicagoland Christmas Conference (aka: C3)
In 2005, Carrie Sansing thought about holding a small gathering of Christmas decorators to be held at her suburban Chicago home. The event was originally intended to draw Midwesterners for a relaxed meet-up of hobbyist’s. The goal was to learn from each other, eat, socialize and have fun. Labor Day weekend 2006, a “throw away” holiday, seemed perfect. Enthusiasts from the Midwest would travel a short distance by car, returning home in plenty of time for Monday’s grilling activities. Thinking perhaps 20 to 25 people would attend, planning started. As it turned out, the first C3 was attended by over…
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2012
RGB colors
Pick a holiday. Now name the first three colors you associate with that holiday. If you are like most people, those who thought of Christmas were reminded of red and green, Hanukkah goers thought of white and blue, and Halloween enthusiasts came up with orange and purple. (Valentines = red/pink, St. Patty’s = green, etc. etc.) There was a time when picking colors for your holiday decor was easy. Why? Society had already done it for you. With few exceptions, we covered our houses in layers of red, green, white, and sometimes blue lights before spending hours at our computer…
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2012
Waterproofing those connectors
Water, water, everywhere, but I can’t seem to keep it outta here! Here, being my light show, the water loves the electrical connections like I love Christmas displays, the difference being I like them turned on and bright and the water likes them shorted out and dark! How to stop the evil water infiltration? Giant sponges? No, too hard to wring out each day. Umbrellas? Nope, blocks the lights. Hmmmmmmm, who will stop the rain, do’h, that’s a line from a song! OK, so here are the standard ways to protect the lights: electrical tape and duct tape. They work,…
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2012
Christmas car
Tim Smith takes lighting his car to an entire new level. We asked him why? “This is the 9th year I did it. Basically, it just makes everyone happier. When I take it downtown or in neighborhoods, you can see the atmosphere of the place just get lifted and I figure with the chaos that’s going on all over the place, if I can make someone forget about it for a few seconds and have them step out of reality and just smile then it is worth the time and effort put in. That is what makes it addicting. That’s…
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2012
Tree Toppers
Like having the perfect shoes to match your dress, your Christmas tree needs the right accessories to make it look completely stunning. One of the Christmas tree accessories that we simply cannot do without is a tree topper. Whether handed down from one generation to the next or bought from a local store on clearance, tree toppers make a big difference on the appearance of your Christmas tree. Here are some Christmas tree topper ideas that you can do on your own. Heavenly Angel The Heavenly Angel (shown here) is a classic favorite tree topper and brings a touch of…
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2012
Squeezing more from your light controllers
Do you wish your light controllers had more channels? Me too. If you have recently joined the ranks of the “Computerized Holiday Lighting Crowd” you’ve probably figured out it takes a bit of an investment to get a decent display up and running. Controllers, light strings, extension cords, FM transmitters – it adds up quick. Most reasonable people operate within some type of budget when planning a light show, so where do you draw the line (from an investment standpoint) from year to year? Last year I learned the hard way why it makes sense to have a spare controller/board…
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